Following complaints authorities swung into action and raided some of the drinking Water refilling factories in Belonia, Santirbazar and Subroom sub-divisions on Sunday. As the authorities found illegality and discrepencies in their papers two such water refilling units were closed. A team led by CMO of South Dr Jagadish Nama, Food Safety Officer Nirmalendu Datta, Drugs Control Officer Aditya Kumar Chakma and other officials made surprise raids at two water refilling factories – Saraswati Pure Drop at Belonia Drop Gate area and Daily Fresh Water at Satmura.
According to sources, during the raids, the team noticed prevailing unhygienic conditions in the factories – like refilling the bottles with impure water, storing water bottle caps in dirty places and using those without purification etc. Besides, concerned authorities of both the factories failed to produce relevant documents when they were asked by the raid team.
Taking cognizance of prevailing unhygienic conditions, the local administration immediately sealed both the factories.
Dr Jagadish Nama and his team also raided Pratibha Aqua at Baikhora Bypass area. There were several complaints against the water bottling factory and the inspecting team found the truth behind the allegations.
Speaking to the media, Dr Nama said, Pratibha Aqua does not have relevant documents. Besides, infrastructure in the factory is also in poor condition – the proportion of iron in the bottled water is reported to be found above permissible level as well as it contains various viruses and bacteria.
“The administration has ordered to seal the factory”, Dr Nama said and added similar raids were conducted in other areas under the South district including Sabroom. He pointed out that while in most of the cases, water bottling factories failed to show proper papers, a Sabroom based water re-filling factory produced the relevant documents.
