The first steps towards making standards for water legally enforceable have been taken. The Government has proposed that water be included in the definition of food as described and governed by the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.The issue will be discussed by a Group of Ministers headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, initially set up to go into the issue of ‘Integrated Food Laws’. There are at least eight ministries right now that deal with food, leading to multiple laws and poor enforceability.The same is the case with water, with several agencies looking into its standards, supply and quality.The proposal will be welcomed by activists who have been demanding standards for water—both bottled and that supplied by municipality—to be made enforceable. The Joint Parliamentary Committee set up to go into the cola issue had also stressed on this.Once standards are set, a citizen can take a water supplier or bottler to court for not meeting them. The idea was first mooted in the ’90s but kept on the backburner due to pressure from municipalities.In a December 9 note, Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi said: ‘‘It (the GoM) was initially constituted to propose legislative changes considered necessary for finalising Integrated Food Laws and related legislations.It will also consider the proposal to include water in the definition of food under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954.’’The note also stated that the PM has approved the above proposal and the expansion of the GoM to look into these issues.The expanded GoM now includes Minister for Water Resources Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Pachayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar, along with Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, Law Minister H R Bhardwaj, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Minister for Food Processing Subodh Kant Sahay.
