Residential areas have emerged as the new hubs for unauthorised local packaged water units, whose proprietors are cashing in on the growing demand for bottled water and the failure of most municipal corporations in the country to meet it.
The fact that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) – the country's apex food regulator – has paid no heed to health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad's instruction that the water manufactured in these unauthorised units be checked yet has emboldened the business operators.
In India's metropolitan cities, the owners of several apartments have an arrangement with the operators of these locally-bottled drinking water units, who supply them twenty-litre cans of water every alternate day.
Mumbai
When quizzed about the inferior quality of packaged drinking water, a spokesperson for Bisleri said on the condition of anonymity, “The demand for packaged drinking water is increasing day by day. Since branded companies cannot reach everywhere, many unauthorised local packaged drinking water units are mushrooming everywhere, and thus, while the quantity increases, the quality is becoming a major issue.”
Santosh Shetty, who owns a packaged drinking water unit in Andheri, said, “Although there have been several complaints about the quality of packaged drinking water, we tie up with banks, malls and other commercial establishments to supply water at their doorsteps. The two key factors for these establishments are necessity and convenience. People are happy when they get water at their doorsteps and do not mind shelling extra money.”
Hyderabad
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) has failed to meet the drinking water demand for the last two months. Pakaged drinking water units are doing brisk business in Uppal, Secunderabad, Alwal, Dilsukhnagar and Malkajgiri (the worst-affected areas).
