Govt Set to Make BIS Standard Must for Tap Water in Select Cities

As per the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Mr. Ram Vilas Paswan, consultation process to make the mandatory compliance of BIS quality standard will be soon started by Centre for the tap water to begin with in the national capital, state capitals and 100 smart cities. Also, Delhi government and Jal Board authorities have no reservations on making the BIS standard mandatory for tap water, he added.

Randomly collected samples of tap water from 11 areas in the national capital has showed that water was not safe for drinking and did not conform with BIS standard.

The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the national body that frames quality norms for products and services and works under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, has set standards for the drinking water but are voluntary in nature.

“After looking at the preliminary report of tap water supplied in Delhi, we are thinking of making mandatory the BIS standards on tap water at least in the national capital, state capitals and 100 smart cities,” Paswan told reporters. He added, a letter will be issued to the state governments to seek their point of view on the said matter. For collecting the samples of the tap water, BIS team has been already been sent to state capitals also to test if they comply with BIS quality standard or not.

“This will take a month. The report will come by November first week. We will get to know which state supplies safe drinking water at least in the capital city. The ranking will be given,” the minister added.

With respect to the quality of tap water in Delhi, as per the preliminary report, the sample collected from 11 areas in Delhi do not comply with BIS standards, Paswan said. “We have received second lab report. We will share in detail about the samples after we get the final lab report,” he said adding that the samples include water collected from his house (10, Janpath) and the office in Krishi Bhawan.

The lab report was discussed in a meeting with senior officials of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), BIS, Union Jal Shakti and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), he said.

Currently, the BIS quality standards are mandatory for only packed drinking water and 140-odd other products. The Centre can make it mandatory for any product or service keeping in view health of the larger public of the country.

Besides state governments, the views of the concerned Union ministries — Health, Jal Shakti and Urban Development — have to be taken for making BIS standard mandatory for tap water.

Source: IBEF

Image Courtesy: IRISID