New Delhi:
It is the purest part of you, says the tagline of a top brand mineral water. But the next time you drink it with the confidence that you are gulping the best quality water available in the market, think again.
Mid Day has exposed a huge racket in which the mineral water mafia in the national capital is engaged in passing off simple tap water as top brand bottled water.
For maximizing profit these thugs, operating out of business hubs like Nehru Place, Bhikaji Cama Place and Munirka, use 20-litre cans. Most of these bottles are sold to hundreds of business establishments and offices in the area, the remaining are supplied to nearby households.
It would be significant to note here that south Delhi has one of the most erratic water supplies in the city. Recently, there have been complaints from areas like RK Puram, Munirka and Vasant Vihar about sewage-grade water being supplied to them by the Delhi Jal Board. Harried residents, left with no option, have to rely on bottled water at least for drinking and cooking.
Mid Day found that spurious water from bottles of local brands is transferred to the empty top brand cans. From one can the racketeers earn a profit of Rs 60-70.
Nehru Place and Bhikaji Cama Place also happen to be the hubs of pirated software and computer products.
A local supplier, who identified himself as Gopal, told Mid Day that "Everyone is busy making money be it a politician, cricketer or a Bollywood actor. If I am also making some money, where is the harm? The water companies are earning cores and we are only making a few hundreds."
He said extra care is taken while sealing the bottles, as the buyers usually don't check anything else. "If the seal is inappropriate, the company may even cancel the contract. We use special adhesives for sealing the bottles."
Another vendor at Nehru Place was not so forthcoming. He refused to say anything and when this correspondent persisted he claimed that all the water is "for personal use" and he was not running any business. However, he hastened to add that spurious water dealers operate from Munirka and Malviya Nagar.
When Mid Day talked to the administrative department of a company in Bhikaji Cama Place where the bottles are being supplied, he said, "I never paid attention to this. The delivery boy used to come and fit it into the dispenser. Rest of the bottles are kept in the storeroom. Now that it has come to my notice, I will definitely keep a tab."
The government officials responsible for water supply, health and food adulteration were either unavailable for comment or shirked responsibility.
Dr NK Yadav, Municipal Corporation of Delhi's chief medical health officer, said, "We are not the enforcing authority. Either the Delhi Jal Board or the Food Adulteration Department will be able to speak on the issue."
However, repeated phone calls to both departments yielded no result. A food inspector, requesting anonymity, said, "We get a number of complaints but the big companies are least bothered. They are only interested in profit."
In 2003, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Kolkata, said even if your packaged drinking water is found to contain traces of pesticides, it is not unsafe as long as it contains the ISI mark. This was because trace pesticides are "permissible," according to the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954. Kolkata is one of the largest manufacturers of packaged water, with 34 local brands nationally distributed.
The authenticity of the ISI mark on packaged mineral water came into question when the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) found pesticidal residue in them. These major national brands are licencees of BIS.
Sayeed Ahmed Naqvi, Director of Citizens' Front for Water Democracy, an NGO for environment and water said, "People in the corporate world understood the importance of water and swiftly capitalised on it. They started selling the elixir of life in attractive bottles. Drinking packaged water became a fashion, thanks to aggressive marketing by these companies. Once the market grew, a number of illegal companies joined the fray whose moot point was profit. The government must act stop this menace."