Y.S. RANA :
CHANDIGARH—COVID 19 will impact the brisk business of packaged water in the coming days as the pandemic continue to haunt in the years to come. Doctors have advised to take their own drinking water bottles while in the offices. Packaged drinking water units are doing brisk business in all over the country and of late officialdom has become “health conscious” at the cost of public exchequer. One may find packaged drinking big-size water bottles in almost every government office. It also raises question whether the officials themselves doubt the ‘quality’ of water being supplied by the municipal corporation across the city and drink lakhs of its residents.
Earlier, the trend of packaged water limited to corporate offices and institutes but in the recent past it has made inroads in offices of Chandigarh Administration. An official of the Administration revealed that each packaged water costs between Rs 70 -100 and on an average each official needs a bottle of packaged water per day. The cost of ‘quality’ water borne by the office concerned from its budgetary allocation runs into lakh of rupees.
The labels may say that purity is a priority but ensuring purity is the last thing on the minds of the packaged water mafia. There is no mechanism to gauge the quality of water, said the official. “Come fill your glass from the office packaged water bottle one may not give a thought to what one is filling up on,” says the official.
Mushrooming of illegal bottling units raise suspicion on quality of water supplied. Even some claimed that they do not use any safety measures either. In some cases water is packaged from regular municipal corporation taps and resupplied in new brand. It will make one to sit up and worry. Empty plastic jars were found lined up on roadside with the dirt, turning into mud next to the source of the ‘mineral water.” It has become a chain where tap water (doubt the officials) flowed straight into the jars and became distilled water for supply in government offices. It is an Indian mindset if the package is sealed it is considered to be safe and pure but in reality it is not so, admitted the official. Worst these units are extracting underground water is usually high on heavy metals and pesticide residue. As a result companies resort to disinfecting processes that ends up leaving behind chemical by-products. “If ozone is used for disinfection in water that already contains bromine, it can lead to formation of bromated,” said a geologist.
Research conducted by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre found traces of carcinogen that causes cancer in 27 per cent samples of packaged drinking water. Bureau of Indian Standards fixed maximum permissible limit of Bromide at 0.01 microgram per litre and also to test the presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyl and pesticides. Various studies have also highlighted that because of high levels of pesticides found in packaged water its regular consumption can lead to lethal health issues slowly and serious physical impairment.