IMPHAL,June 12 – Invoking provisions of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Rules 1955, the state authority has banned with immediate effect all packaged drinking water/mineral water that does not have the tags of Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) certificates. State Health Director Ch Chandramani issued an order in this regard on Monday notifying closure of all the mineral water bottling plants in the state which do not possess BIS certificates.
There are six packaged drinking water manufacturing units in the state.They are likely to face the music in the wake of the government order as it is reliably learnt that none of them have obtained the mandatory certificate despite having been given three months’ time to do so. Sources revealed that more than 50 per cent of the packaged drinking water being sold in the local market is manufactured by these local units which do not have the seal of BIS.
Additional Director (Public Health) Dr Th Biren told this correspondent that the state health directorate has taken a firm stand on the issue after the local manufacturing units failed to obtained the BIS certificates despite being given three months’ time to do so. Following an instruction from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Ministry, the state health directorate had issued notices to the proprietors/managers of all the packaged drinking water manufacturing units, namely Magic Dew, Mama, Bideli, A-I Special and Aqua Soft, all located in and around Imphal, to obtain BIS certificates within three months and submit the same to the directorate. But none of the manufacturing units have complied with the notice and accordingly stringent action against such non-licensed units has been taken up.
Dr Biren said, “all the chief medical officers in every district would be taking care of the government instruction.”Necessary legal action would be initiated if any of the units is found defying the order, he added. The regional office of BIS at Guwahati had also reportedly furnished a list of the licensed manufacturers of packaged mineral water for the entire north eastern region to the directorate on August 26, 2003. But none of the units located in the state featured in the said list. In view of the latest development almost all the mineral water bottles manufactured in the state have been withdrawn from the Imphal markets.