No. of views : (6084)
What has suddenly happened that has led to a decrease in the demand for packaged water in Chennai?
Posted on: 12/May/2022 9:40:29 AM
The bitter truth is that the demand for packaged water has gone down by 40 percent in Chennai now when compared to the pre-pandemic period. This has been despite the rise in the temperatures in Chennai. It is now revealed that the reason for the decrease in the demand of packaged water in Chennai was due to the increase of unregulated water tankers supplying drinking water to the residents.
It is worthy to note that a water unit that normally produces 1000 cans of drinking water per day is now producing just 500 to 600 cans of drinking water. This was brought to light by Mr. E. Saravanan, general secretary, Greater TN Packaged Drinking Water Association.
The revenue of the bottling industry in Chennai is worth millions of rupees now and that includes revenue from all the branches, recycling, production and supply etc. There is also a huge risk of many persons employed in the bottling industry losing their jobs when the demand for packaged water reduces further.
Mr. Saravanan later spoke about how the quality of the water supplied by unregulated water tankers in Chennai was not checked. It is learnt that lose water doesn’t come under ISI and FSSAI and only packaged water comes under them. In the past, those water tankers with capacity of 12000 to 20000 litres plied across TN but now those with capacity of 1000 to 2000 litres have joined the business.
It was mentioned by Mr. J. Anantha Narayanan, president, greater TN Packaged Drinking Water Association that BIS has been seizing many cans of water due to poor quality. He added that the unregulated tankers have gone unnoticed at a time when the licensed units have met the quality requirements of the drinking water.
Surviving in the industry would be possible only when the government appoints a body to monitor such water tankers. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the daily sales of packaged drinking water were 1.5crore litres and now it is 1.1 crore litres. Other reasons for the dip in the demand for packaged water were 50% of offices remaining shut and installation of water purifiers at their homes by people etc.
Post your requirement - We will connect with the right vendor or service provider
