Consumer Organisations comes together to demand access to safe water as a Consumer's Right

Company Brief

New Delhi, March 22, 2011

The leading consumer organisations in India observed the World Water Day in Delhi to attract the attention of the Governments, policy makers and the media to ensure access to safe potable drinking water to the citizens and take immediate steps to bring reforms in its distribution in an equitable manner. "Safe and clean drinking water and sanitation is a human right" said Mr. S. Krishnan, Chairman of Healthy you Foundation, an organisation working on the rights of consumers in India, with focus on health and food safety related issues. He further said that "the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared on 26th July 2010, voicing deep concern that almost 900 million people worldwide do not have access to clean water. The 192-member Assembly also called on United Nations Member States and international organisations to offer funding, technology and other resources to help poorer countries scale up their efforts to provide clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation for everyone. The Assembly resolution received 122 votes in favour and zero votes against, while 41 countries abstained from voting. This has proved that water is a serious issue and needs our immediate attention". Today, 37.7 million Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually; 1.5 million children are estimated to die of diarrhoea alone. Until the 10th Five Year Plan, Neither the State itself, nor in partnership with private players has made it a priority to deliver safe drinking water to the country's 700 million rural population. While access to drinking water in India has increased over the past decade, the tremendous adverse impact of unsafe water on health continues.

The objective of World Water Day 2011 is to focus international attention on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialization and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on urban water systems. This year theme, Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge, aims to spotlight and encourage governments, organizations, communities, and individuals to actively engage in addressing the challenges of urban water management.

"The consumers globally have the right to access safe potable water" said Dr Sunil Prakash, President of Consumers' Forum and Governing Council Member of Consumer Coordination Council, a coalition of more than 70 leading consumer organisations of India. He further added that "there are several studies with valid scientific evidences which have established how in an irresponsible manner the manufacturers, service providers, food processors and the policy makers are not concerned with the health and safety of the consumers in India. The World Health Organisation estimates 21% of communicable diseases in India are water related. Of these diseases, diarrhea alone killed over 700,000 Indians in 1999 (estimated) - over 1,600 deaths each day. Water borne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, and other gastro-intestinal disorders are a cause of prime concern and children, elderly and sick people are especially the most vulnerable population segments".

Pollution of ground water and surface water sources also pose a serious risk for public health. With the growing awareness among the consumers for hazards of unsafe drinking water and multitude of diseases caused by water borne pathogens, demand for water purifiers providing safe portable water has been growing. In India, the weak water distribution infrastructure combined with questions on effective municipal water treatment plants have made point-of-use (POU) water purifiers a primary defense mechanism to remove various contaminants to make the water safe to drink. Thus the Indian consumer is pushed into buying one of the water purifiers as it becomes inevitable to use a POU water treatment device to provide safe and clean drinking water to those who are aware but cannot afford the expensive route of accessing package drinking water. "Taking advantage of such a situation, some of the manufacturers of water purifiers are misleading the Indian consumers to over-sell POU water treatment devices by advertising misleading and false information to the consumers undermining the other water purifiers on safety, information, choice and redress" said Mr. Mahesh Gupta, Chairman, Kent RO Systems Limited. He further mentioned that "certain manufacturers of water purifiers are using chemicals, which are harmful to the health and safety of the consumers and has even adopted unfair practices by taking names of reputed institutions to prove their point and thus mislead the consumers".

Complimenting a recent study commissioned by Healthy You Foundation, and authored by Mr. Bejon Misra, who has 30 years of insight on setting water standards in India. Mr. Aslam Karmali, CEO - Consumer Division of Eureka Forbes Limited said "the book published by Healthy You Foundation has provided a sound direction to the business community engaged in India with water purification business and will make the manufacturers of POU Water Purifiers accountable to the consumers". On the occasion Mr. Aslam handed over a written pledge to the consumer organisations that they have gone ahead with the implementation of the recommendation made in the book about the need to share the accurate information on the use of brominated resin, rather than wait for Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the regulatory body like Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) to mandate such information to the consumers. "Based on the recommendations, Eureka Forbes, has started declaring use of US EPA registered HaloPure beads (contact disinfectant resin) on our entire product carton and other promotional material like leaflets, banners, standees, poster etc. HaloPure beads (brominated resin that works as active contact disinfectant), are approved by US EPA to be used safely in the home water purification devices. A copy of registration certificate from US EPA of HaloPure beads are also given to Healthy You Foundation along with our pledge", he said. As India does not have any existing Safety Standards for Storage Water Purifiers (POU), the study had to lean mostly on existing standards or labeling information made available to the consumers of such products in United States of America and other European countries. As expected, the study found the claims to be misleading and revealed several alarming information on public health and safety.

It is observed that the service providers responsible to reach safe portable water to the consumers always managed to get away without any kind of accountability towards the consumers on the quality and purity of water. The only Standard setting body in India, Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), in 1991 made available the water standards IS 10500-1991, which has got further revised and shall be released soon is yet to have a single licensee for compliance of the standards in the interest of the consumers. Of course, the consumer organisations had to mobilize great amount of pressure on BIS and Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, to set standards for Natural Mineral Water and Packaged Drinking Water formulated under IS:13428:1998 and IS:14543:2004 respectively and made mandatory under the provisions of Food Adulteration Act.1954, in the year 2004, which has brought some amount of accountability in India on access to safe drinking water.

"If waterborne diseases are eliminated, the sale of antibiotics and water purifiers (POU) will come down and pharmaceutical companies and leading brands in water purification (POU) devices will lose revenue" said Mr. Bejon Misra, a leading consumer expert and founder of several consumer organisations in India, working in the interest of the consumers since 1983, starting from Jamshedpur and now working globally from Delhi. He further said that "but the flipside, to be ruthlessly businesslike, is that in the long run, a healthier population will fuel economic growth and with it their purchasing power. The slogan for inclusive growth and the AAM ADMI driven policies made visible at the cutting edge and the use of tax payer's money should be transparent and accountable".

On April 01, 2010 at least 18 babies in several hamlets of Bihar's Bhojpur district have been born blind in the past three months because their families consume groundwater containing alarming levels of arsenic, doctors said. Bihar's Health Minister Nand Kishore Yadav confirmed the cases of blindness in newborns in arsenic-affected blocks of the district but said the cause of blindness was not known. Though more than 16 districts of Bihar have reported arsenic contamination of groundwater sources, Bhojpur emerged on top, with 1,861 parts per billion (ppb) against the World Health Organization's limit of 50 ppb.

Ms. Annie Kishen of PepsiCo who leads the public-private partnerships in the area of community water projects that recharge and conserve water while contributing to the 'Water Balance' concept, and manages the company's community waste management initiatives focused at building capacity and models in environment sustainability said " it's a privilege for our organisation to be with all of you today as PepsiCo firmly believes and practices 'Performance with Purpose' framework that articulates our financial success — Performance — must go hand-in-hand with our social and environmental responsibilities. We are putting this commitment to action by focusing on preserving water resources and enabling access to water, creating a positive impact by fostering partnerships toward sustainable agriculture, creating community waste management models, and serving needy communities, specially around our manufacturing plants".

There is no single pathway to sustainable urban water management. Let us learn lessons from other countries and even some of our own States. A key factor to a sustainable solution is the ability of the state to take a strong leadership towards the issue, developing professional capacity and sustaining the implementation of complex public policies over time through mandatory standards, regulations and efficient use of tax payer's money.

About Healthy You

For further information, please contact:

Regional Pr

Anuj Bhatia

Mobile: +919911249518

Email: anuj@regionalpr.in