There are over 4,000
manufacturers of packaged drinking water in the State, only 415 have the all
important ‘ISI’ stamp certifying that the product is fit for consumption. In
cities like Bangalore, where a big chunk of residents remain off the pipe water
grid and depend on packaged water, this revelation by the Bureau of Indian
Standards (BIS) becomes particularly significant.
All packaged water – whether
in bottles, canisters or packets – has to meet 104 requirements before being
certified by the BIS with an ‘ISI’ stamp. Samples have to clear tests for
several types of pesticides, microbiological contamination, heavy metals and
other chemicals.
While it is illegal for any
packaged drinking water manufacturer to operate without a BIS certification,
“most manufacturers have not applied for a licence,” said A.K. Bhatnagar, head
of BIS, Bangalore branch. So large is the packaged water industry in the State
(located mostly in and around the city) that monitoring these manufacturers has
become “the main focus” of the national standards body, Mr. Bhatnagar said at a
press conference on Friday.
Packaged water is among 95
types of products for which a BIS certification for quality and safety is compulsory.
The other products that require mandatory BIS certification include baby food,
electrical home appliances, automobile parts, medical appliances and gas
cylinders, none of which cannot be stored or sold without a BIS licence.
Another group of products
require only ‘voluntary testing’, such as gold jewellery.
In 2001, the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare enforced quality control for packaged drinking water
and natural mineral water, bringing them under Prevention of Food Adulteration
Act, and under the Compulsory Certification Scheme.
The lack of consumer
awareness about drinking water certification makes matters tougher for the
Bureau to track down illegal entities, said Mr. Bhatnagar.
Also, while BIS is
authorised to monitor and certify products, it cannot enforce the law, he said,
adding that they have, however, referred several cases of unlicenced
manufacturers to the regulatory body, Food Safety and Standards Authority of
India. Water manufacturing companies have also been booked for using the ISI
stamp without a licence, he said.
BIS, in 1987, took over the
functions of Indian Standards Institution (ISI) in implementing national
standards for various consumer goods. The ‘certification mark’, however,
remains ‘ISI’.
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