Cuttack, April 17: The municipal corporation's health wing has launched a crackdown on sale of illegal water pouches in the city.

Over 12,000 packets have been destroyed during a special drive conducted by the health squad in the last two days out of which nearly 5,000 were seized today.

Senior officials of the enforcement squad said the raid had been launched following complaints regarding the sale of water pouches by various companies without manufacturing date printed on them.

"Keeping in view the health hazards, we have started seizing water pouches that are sold without adhering to safety norms," said P.K. Pradhan, city health officer. The sale of such packets rises during summer owing to easy availability and cheap rates.

A 250 ml water pouch is sold at Rs 2 to Rs 2.50. The profit margin, sources said, could range between Rs 20 and Rs 50 per pack of 100 pouches.

Unofficial estimates reveal that around 80,000 to 1 lakh water pouches are being sold daily in the city. During peak summer, it goes up.

The drive against illegal sale of water pouches assumes significance because of jaundice outbreak in several localities in municipal corporation limits.

"Most of the water pouches are sold without manufacturing dates and nobody knows whether the water is safe for consumption or not," said Sachidanand Behera, a resident of Mission Road.

Official sources said each packet of water should carry the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) certification and ISI mark.

Besides, a valid licence is also mandatory for manufacturing and selling packaged drinking water. The water pouch should also carry the name, address of the company and manufacturing date.

But, many people engaged in the sale of water pouches do not adhere to the norms.

Sources said there were nearly seven to eight manufacturing units engaged in the production and sale of water pouches from Jagatpur, CDA and other parts of the city.

Besides, there is an inflow of water pouches of various brands manufactured at Khurda, Jatni and Berhampur that are also sold in Cuttack.

"We will examine the quality of water pouches at the manufacturing units. So far, we have sent over 100 water pouches seized from different parts of the city for examination," Pradhan said.