Consumers are often victims of poor quality water supplied by civic authorities. Besides water borne diseases, in many districts of the country, consumers suffer the debilitating effects of high levels of toxic heavy metals and even pesticides and other chemicals in water. Now two recent orders of the apex consumer court have opened the doors of the consumer court to petitions from citizens on the poor quality of water. Both the orders give directions to the municipal bodies to ensure the safety of water supplied to citizens.

Interestingly, in 1994, when a complaint seeking redress against the poor quality of water supplied by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation was filed before it, the apex consumer court was of the view that the consumer forum had no jurisdiction to address such issues and that the petition, more in the nature of a public interest litigation, should be filed in a regular court of law. This was challenged before the Supreme Court by the petitioners — Consumer Education and Research Centre and the families of those who had died of jaundice in an epidemic that had swept Ahmedabad in 1993. The Supreme Court directed the consumer court to adjudicate over the case. (Subsequently, the law was also amended, giving the consumer courts wider powers).

In this case, the apex consumer court directed the AMC to (a) inspect every fortnight, the water tanks to ensure that they are not contaminated; (b) ensure that they are properly sealed to prevent contamination through animals entering the tank or through any other source; (c) test the water from the source every fortnight and (d) file the results with the deputy municipal commissioner of the zone; (e) replace all old and corroded, or leaking pipes; (f) adhere to World Health Organisation’s guidelines on “framework for safe drinking water” and (g) publish periodically in newspapers, the results of water testing (OP No. 125 and 126 of 1994). It also awarded Rs 50,000 as costs to the petitioner.

In the second case, filed by Brij Mohan of Nurpur Bedi village, Punjab, the apex consumer court made it clear that the civic authorities have to supply water complying with ISI standards for potable water. It also awarded a compensation of Rs 10,000 for the suffering undergone by the complainant’s mother on account of unsafe drinking water and Rs 5,000 towards costs.