KATHMANDU, AUG 17 -The government has ordered two mineral water companies to stop the production and sale of their bottled water for violating regulations. The two companies, Nilkantha Natural Spring Water and Pure and Natural Water, have been charged with not fulfilling the legal criteria for running a business and selling contaminated water bearing the label “WHO Standard Water”.
The Department of Commerce has found Aqua Cold and Penguin Aqua Cold brands of bottled water to have been passed through a very poor filtration system after being extracted from a filthy well.
The Aqua Cold brand belongs to Nilkantha Natural Spring Water of Budhanilkantha which is owned by Pushpa Lal Shrestha, regional president of the Nepal Bottled Water Industries Association. Similarly, the Penguin Aqua Cold brand belongs to Pure and Natural Water, Budhanilkantha which is owned by Sima Thapa.
“The two companies failed to produce paperwork showing that they have been registered with the Department of Cottage and Small Industries and that they have been okayed to run a mineral water business by the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control,” said Kamal Thapa, inspection officer at the department. “The two companies, which are not even registered with any government agency, have been selling bottled water claiming it to be of WHO standard.”
As per government regulations, aspiring mineral water companies are required to be registered with the Department of Cottage and Small Industries. They also have to obtain a permit from the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control.
There are an estimated 250 mineral water bottling businesses in the Kathmandu Valley, and only around 100 of them have obtained government approval. According to reports, the valley consumes more than 900,000 litres of bottled mineral water daily.
Pramod Koirala, spokesperson of the Food Technology Department, said that the government was having a hard time keeping tabs on the mushrooming mineral water business. “We collect samples of around 200 food items annually from the market for lab tests, and 20 of them are samples of bottled water,” he added.
The Food Technology Department files a case at the concerned district administration office against the company if the products are found not meeting the government criteria. Government officials said that contaminated water contains harmful micro-organisms or excessive iron, therefore, selling such water is illegal. They added that lack of strong legal provisions and weak implementation of the law had been encouraging traders to continue with their malpractices.
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