Agra packaged water units may face closure

The Uttar Pradesh government is planning to make ISI certification mandatory for all packaged water units in the state, a move could hit more than 80 water filtration and packaging units of Agra, with the summer round the corner.

A delegation of members of the Packed Drinking Water Association of UP met the Agra district magistrate recently and presented him a memorandum, reminding him that obtaining ISI certification was mandatory for any packaged water unit but apart from about 5-6 brands, most of the over 90 water packaging units of Agra were being operated without ISI certification.

Besides, being a serious health hazard, the modus operandi of these units was also giving a bad reputation to the entire water packaging industry, he said.

Reportedly, the district magistrate has indicated possible action against the uncertified water packaging units of Agra in accordance with the policies set by the UP government. This could mean the closure of these units if they were unable to obtain certification soon.

The uncertified unit owners said any such administrative action against them shall be challenged in the court.

Anwaar Ahmed, owner of one of these uncertified water filtration and packaging units, functioning on the commonly available reverse osmosis units based on US manufactured membranes said by making ISI certification mandatory, the government would be playing in the hands of the few big water companies who, in the absence of the smaller units, would get a free run over the market and will charge exorbitant prices.

He said in the two summer months, the market for packaged water was worth over Rs 2 crores in Agra and on an average, at least 1-1.2 lakh litres of water were consumed daily in the town and it was this market, in which, the branded ISI certified companies were trying to capture the lion's share.

According to Ahmed, the water packaging facilities in Agra were already licensed by the Agra Municipal Corporation and the state health department, who conducted regular tests on the quality of their water and any unit found to be lacking in quality was served a notice to improve the quality or face closure, which made the obtaining of an ISI certification an unnecessary and expensive hassle. He said obtaining an ISI certification meant the initial expenditure of over Rs 500,000 to establish a water testing laboratory and the certification fee, with a recurring yearly fee of Rs 100,000.

If any of the Agra units applied for a certification from ISI, it would ultimately reflect on the price of the water and it was the price factor, not the number of certificates that governed the middle-class market of Agra.

He said while the non- certified packaged water was available at Rs 12-15 per 20 litre bottle, ISI certified-water could cost between Rs 40-70 a bottle, a price that most of the households could ill-afford in Agra, considering that the demand for packaged water in an average household during the summers rose to 20-22 bottles a month and any price rise in the water would be seen as an additional burden on the budget of the family.