The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Crackdown on unauthorised mineral water firms

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 10, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Crackdown on unauthorised mineral water firms

Staff Reporter

Seven companies seized in West Godavari district

ELURU: The district administration has launched a crackdown on mineral water companies doing water business illegally.

Personnel from the Revenue Department and Food Inspector's Office have been conducting a series of raids jointly on the water companies in different parts of the district. According to information, at least seven companies were seized in Vatluru, Tanuku, Akiveedu, Palacole and Bhimavaram in the last two days. The Food Inspector, M. Srinivasa Rao, told The Hindu on Thursday that of the total of 13 companies in the district, 11 had not applied for the ISI mark while the remaining two had failed to follow the ISI specifications, in spite of having the ISI mark.

Permission mandatory

Permission from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is mandatory for water companies to apply for a licence to be issued by the Food Inspector for doing mineral water business. Water companies should have a chemist and a laboratory among other things as per the ISI guidelines and the ISI mark is granted after conducting tests on the quality of mineral water manufactured in the respective companies by officials from the BIS.

Almost all the mineral water companies are alleged to have thrown these norms to the winds. Citing an instance at Tanuku, the Food Inspector said he had seized a company which was found filling raw water from a borewell in sachets bearing his company labels without even chlorination and selling them in the market.

The Mandal Revenue Officers have been instructed to seize the unlicensed water companies and destroy their water sachets under circulation in the market. Each sachet is sold at Rs 1.50 paise in the market as against the maximum retail price of Re. 1 per a sachet of mineral water manufactured in a licensed company. Mineral water business has been flourishing in the district for quite some time due to pollution of water sources.

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