Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday said that tap water in Delhi is not potable and safe to drink despite quality standards put in place by central body BIS. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has framed quality standards for tap water as well. However, it has not been made mandatory yet. So, the body has no data if any other states are complying with the standards or not. The Delhi government's Jal Board has the mandate to supply tap water in the national capital.

"I am here since 1977. The quality of tap water has deteriorated. Ask anyone, they will tell tap water is sub-standard in Delhi. It is not drinkable at all," Paswan told reporters after the review meeting with BIS and other ministry officials on the quality standards issue.

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A meeting called to discuss the matter

In Europe and other developed countries, it is clearly written whether tap water is potable or not. In India, there is no such certification, he said. Asked if other states are complying with tap water standards, a senior BIS official said,

"The standards are voluntary in nature. So no state has come forward and taken a certification. We don't know if some states are implementing it or not. Some of them might be doing it."

A meeting has been scheduled next week to discuss the matter in detail. Senior officials from the Union Urban Development Ministry, Delhi government.

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Over-exploitation of groundwater in India

India has been the biggest user of groundwater as it extracts more groundwater than China and the US. Groundwater meets more than half of the total requirement of clean water in the country. In 2015, the standing committee on water resources found that groundwater forms the largest share of India’s agriculture and drinking water supply. Most of the groundwater extracted in India is used for irrigation making it the highest category user in the country. Household use comes second followed by an industry that uses only two per cent of it.

Overall, 50 per cent of urban water requirements and 85 per cent of rural domestic water need is fulfilled by groundwater. This kind of use has caused a reduction in groundwater levels in India by 61 per cent between 2007 and 2017, according to report by Central Ground Water Board (CGWB), presented in the Lok Sabha last year.

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(With inputs from PTI)