BMC Inc. will now sell bottled water

On Monday, however, several rules of the BMC Act of 1888 were reportedly amended, which could now make it easy for the BMC to overhaul any obstructive rules and go ahead with its proposal in the face of commercial gains. At present, the BMC supplies potable water throughout the city and even sells water in tankers on a no-profit-no-loss basis in certain suburban areas.

Shetty reportedly contended that the private bottledmineral water business has many takers. While it is sold at prices ranging between Rs 10-20 per bottle, the civic body would sell its bottles at much cheaper prices, between Rs 3 and 5 per bottle. These cheaper rates are to be achieved by plumbing the corporation’s abundant water reserves and distillation plants. As private enterprises do not have this infrastructure at their disposal, they quote high prices for bottled water, whereas the BMC could earn extra revenue with only half the trouble, Shetty explained.

Peeved bureaucrats, who were debarred from the “highly secret” meeting, pointed out that while several parts of the metropolis suffer from a water shortage and contaminated water supply, little is being done to mitigate these problems.“Why embark on such schemes at the cost of depriving water to the needy,”they asked.