Maya Concerned For Water, Cola and Packaged Water Companies To Face Music

SIDDHARTH KALHANS
Lucknow, 23 April



At last the Uttar Pradesh government has woken up on issue of exorbitant withdrawal of ground water by cola and mineral water companies.
The state government has decided to bring an act regarding the use of the underground water by the cola and the mineral water companies. The act has been given a formal shape and it will be tabled before the state cabinet in the end of this month after the by-elections for two parliament and three assembly seats are over. The act has been drafted after carefully going through similar kind of act which are being enforced by the Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Goa and Orissa government. At present the soft drink makers and mineral water companies do not need any permission regarding the usage of the ground water from any authority.
According to the Director of the Ground Water division, MM Ansari while talking to this reporter informed that the act has been prepared and may be tabled before state cabinet very soon. He said that at present the cola and mineral water making companies are only taking licence from the municipal corporation and the health department and some even do not bother to complete this responsibility even. After the new act being enforced the soft drink companies and mineral water companies will have to take no objection certificate from the ground water department. In the new act the district magistrates will have the power to seize the soft drinks or the mineral water factory besides it can also cancel the licence.
According to Ansari, the hazardous arsenic is found in the water samples collected from most of the districts of Uttar Pradesh. Ghaziabad is the only district where arsenic was not found in the water sample while in nine other districts the level was arsenic in the pottable water was as per the standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). These districts are Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Pilibhit, Rampur, Saharanpur, Unnao, Bulandshaher, Behraich and Basti. As per the WHO standards the arsenic level in the potable water should be more than 0.001 particle per milligram (PPM). Even in the state capital of Uttar Pradesh, the level of arsenic is high and still 52 companies are making mineral water here while two soft drink makers have their bottling plants.
The ground water department, according to the director has warned the state government on the level of arsenic in the drinking water.