Pyasa Purana Shahar: Mineral water biz booming in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The supply of contaminated water through the rotten pipelines in the city has become a boon to several water companies. As residents have been receiving contaminated water which is being supplied by the civic body, several mineral water companies sales have gone up as there has been an increasing demand in purified drinking water cans in the State.

As many as 70 per cent of people in the city are dependent on private mineral water sources to quench their thirst as the water being supplied by civic bodies are contaminated and found to be unfit for consumption. There is a huge increase in the number of water cans been acquired by the citizens. At present there are at least three water plants in every area and it has become a family business. "One can find that there is at least one plant in each street, especially in Old city areas. People are establishing a plant in a single room and are making money," said Mohammed Ahmed, an activist.

It has been observed that in each colony various drinking water suppliers takes a water can and supply it to residents. On an average at least three water cans are supplied at a particular house and the number increases during summer. However, each water can of 20 litres is sold at Rs 10 and Rs 20 including delivery, and the water plants belonging to the government which were built under MP and MLA funds sold water for around Rs 5 to Rs 10 each.

Ahmed said that a few years back these plants were built by the civic body in Government schools, colleges, hospitals and other departments which provided water for free, but now this has become a business. "There is a ban in place on commercial pumping of groundwater, there is no count on water plants but there are over 4,000 and many more water plants are thriving in the city, blatantly pumping out water from the ground. There are about 300 plants in each circle in the Old city," said Ahmed.

"The government and the civic body who supplies water to the inhabitants turned failure for providing drinking water as they are not paying any attention to the key issues faced by denizens," said Asif Hussain, another activist.

An owner of a water plant in Moghalpura who wished to remain anonymous said, "There is a huge demand for water. Earlier I used to supply 1,500 litres a day and now I am supplying more than 3,000 litres, the demand gets doubled in summer." He pointed out that people are choosing to purchase water cans as they have been receiving contaminated water from the civic body, and most of the houses have water dispensers which need water cans. We charge Rs 20 for 20 litre can and some may charge more. Moreover, we deliver at doorstep and have a monthly package," he said.

However, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation does not have any data on the mineral water plants registered within them. To set up a mineral water plant, one needs an investment of about Rs 15 lakh if they go for an ISO certification and other permissions. However, most of them skip these certifications and are running the mineral water can business illegally.

"There are several such plants across the city which are running illegally and selling the illegal package drinking water with lack of proper permissions and certifications. The major ones are pumping out water at city outskirts and in agricultural land. The civic body must keep an eye on water plants running in the city," said Asif Hussain.