A recent study has revealed that 27 brands of bottled mineral water, sold across the country in the name of clean drinking water, are potentially hazardous to health.
Some brands contained excessive levels of sodium, arsenic and potassium, while others were bacterially contaminated.
According to experts, use of these contaminated brands could lead to serious health issues, including various cancers, kidney and heart diseases, high blood pressure, stomach infections like cholera and nervous system disorders.
One must appreciate the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) for efficiently and regularly discharging its responsibility of testing samples of bottled water and making the findings public for information of the people.
However, in view of the mushroom growth of companies marketing the bottled water it is next to impossible for a layman to memorize names of spurious brands without keeping a handy list in their pockets and making a time-consuming comparison while picking the one during shopping.
The practice to monitor quality of bottled water is laudable but this becomes meaningless without initiation of proper action against those selling diseases to the innocent people.
Selling contaminated water in the name of clean and purified water is a serious crime involving health hazards.
It is strange why the law is not taking its course when the criminals stand exposed by the PCRWR, as its tests are nothing short of an FIR against them.
