95 per cent of bottling units illegal

Khammam: How safe is drinking water being supplied by various bottling units in Khammam? The answer is surprising. Ninety five per cent of the packaged water units are not following the guidelines of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Further, these bottling units are trying to cash in on the drinking water crisis in the district by increasing the prices on one side and supplying just water from borewells. There are 184 water bottling plants in the district and not a single unit is maintaining the prescribed percentage of chloride, salt, zinc, oxygen, calcium and sulphate concentrates in each litre of water. Lack of monitoring mechanism on the unscientific water bottling units is a blessing in disguise to the illegal operators.

These units are supplying 25 lakh litre water per day to different customers. The people who are not aware of how safe it is, are buying. About 105 bottling units in Khammam and surrounding areas are minting crores of rupees. The employees living in rural areas are buying these bottled water by considering them safe. People are buying water worth of Rs 8 crore per month. The drinking water problem forced many families to go for  bottled water which costs Rs 20 to Rs 30 for each 15 litre bottle. P. Bhaskar, a teacher said that there is no other option except buying this water. “We had our own doubts on the purity of the water. But, we are unable to go through in to detail because of busy life,” he said.

As the water demand is on the rise, the water packaging units are witnessing mushrooming growth in the district. Many NGOs are extending financial assistance for setting up these units. P Murali, who set up a water plant, said that one can erect water plant with '7 lakh. He said that the job of checking the purity of water should be entrusted to a separate department.