Anantapur: Unbelievable, but it’s the fact that Government departments were reportedly encouraging purified water plants and addicting people to consume water which had neither license nor tested at the laboratories.
Meanwhile, the government is losing crores of rupees, though thousands of non-ISI purified water plants have been selling water at the doorsteps of people, across the state.
In Anantapur alone, nearly 300 purified water tanks are selling purified water at Rs 5 a pot and Rs 10 on a can through the specially designed tankers.
The civic authorities were simply throwing on the food control department and allowing large scale selling of purified water at all parts of Anantapur.
Sources said, the purified water plant operators were showing a cause of a court order from Chennai over permitting herbal purified water and running the plants without paying a single pisa either to municipality or state government.
The vigilance and enforcement authorities had found many samples of purified water, not feasible to consume, after obtaining report from laboratories a year ago.
Recently, the vigilance and enforcement, Superintendent of Police Brahma Reddy, along with municipal commissioner, T. Rangaiah, conducted raids at many plants and was shocked to know that none of the plants neither is paying tax nor maintaining measures similar to ISI mark water plants.
The lobby of purified water plants have been ruling drinking water businesses in all parts of the state, neither paying taxes nor maintaining ensured safety measures.
The purified water plant could be set up with minimum expenditure around Rs 3 lakh including a bore well.
With the AP Transco department, providing power connection to the plants, under non –commercial category, the operators are not obtaining permission from the municipality in setting up the plant.
The operators are using specially designed steel tankers along with mike set to publicise their purified water, selling at the doorsteps of the people.
None of the civic authorities had concentrated on whether the water was fusible for consuming or not.
CPI district secretary, K. Jagadish, alleged that the government departments were failing to ensure safe drinking water for the people and loosing huge income for the government in the form of taxes and license fees.
Anantapur municipal commissioner, T. Rangaiah, told this reporter that Anantapur Municipal Corporation was supplying safe drinking water from PABR drinking water project at all parts of the corporation.
He revealed that the laboratory reports are satisfied with the available PH and other components as against impure water selling by the plants.
“We are chalking out all possible action to curb purified water plants,” the commissioner said. The high level sources in the government said that state government was planning to initiate action against the plants following large number of complaints at various levels.
