Pesticides: Rlys meets standards
Private companies are gearing up to face the challenge of pesticides in their products, but a public sector unit (PSU) has already left them behind in the race. Indian Railways claims that its bottled water, Rail Neer, uses the best technology and is completely safe.
When Rail Neer's first bottling plant in Delhi started work in May 2003, it was already meeting the latest standards for pesticide residues in bottled water. Officials claim this was even before the Bureau of Indian Standards notified the standards.
"Sometimes in February 2002, we got a directive that within a year we have to launch our own bottled water. It was tough but we decided to take a plunge. Our plant was ready for production by February 2003, but then the Centre for Science and Environment came out with a report on pesticides in bottled water,' says S K Kaushik, director, finance, of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd's (IRCTC).
"We reviewed our technology and looked for options by which pesticides could be treated. We delayed our plant's inauguration by three months and researched. Finally we changed the design of our plant to add new features and launched Rail Neer in May 2003,' says Kaushik.
Water at the plant goes through eight stages of purification