Attention Punekars! Banned RO Plants Start Again In Dhayari And Nanded Amid GBS Outbreak – Check List Of Suspended Facilities

Amid the increasing cases of suspected Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), a rare nerve disorder, the Pune Municipal Corporation banned 19 RO plants in Nanded and Dhayari, the epicenter of the GBS outbreak, after tests confirmed that the water from these facilities was unfit for drinking.

However, the residents and hotelier businessmen are concerned because these RO water suppliers have resumed their services, raising a lot of questions regarding the quality. People are also concerned about how they would know if it is fit for drinking, as there has been no official statement from PMC confirming that the banned RO services have followed corrective measures and are now safe for consumption.

Shantanu Dhamthere, vice president of Vyapari Sangathan Singhada Road, said, "Most of the RO facilities that were banned have resumed their services, however, a lot of people are not even aware of which 19 RO companies were banned by PMC. These RO water suppliers have started their services again, but it is a threat to residents as they are not aware whether the water that is now provided to them is fit for drinking or not. There are no rules from the PMC side to catch hold of the culprits or to check the quality of water being provided to the residents."

Shruti Tiwari, a resident of Nanded, said, "I'm still shocked that PMC has no scrutiny on RO water suppliers. The GBS outbreak actually revealed the incompetence of civic authorities. Why does it always take a disease or some outbreak to open the eyes of the civic officials? Why are we not prepared to deal with any health crisis? In COVID, we saw the entire health sector collapsing, and now GBS revealed how filtered water, which we are buying thinking it's safe, is still not safe. There is a regulatory vacuum in our system."

Banned RO plants

Maauli Aqua, Dhayari

Yugandhar Chakankar, Dhayari

Balaji Aqua

Raykarmala, Dhayari

Nalanda Aqua

Komal Aqua

Kiran Aqua

Sadguru Aqua

Dhayreshwar Aqua 1

Dhayreshwar Aqua 2

Shivalay Aqua

Pradip Korde, Korde Bag

Paankaj Paygude, Jaldhara Fresh

Nilesh Karanjakar Aqua

Kishor Pimpalkar Aqua

Vijay Kolhe Aqua

Sagar Kolhe Aqua

Mohan Kolhe Aqua

Chavan Vasti, Dhayari

PMC sdays SoP soon

Nandkumar Jagtap, head of the water department, PMC, said, "Tomorrow we will be issuing a standard operating procedure (SOP) to all the RO water suppliers, which will mandate every water-providing unit to submit the documents every month. This way, we will regulate the vendors that provide filtered water. The documents that they need to submit will include a lab test report, which shows that the water is fit for drinking, certification of the vendor that is providing the services, and they will also have to provide us with disinfection provisions, storage protocols, and hygiene practices for vendors and delivery procedures."

An official from the FDA stated, "FDA only monitors packaged drinking water companies that manufacture only sealed packaged products. There are many water suppliers that are not labeled, so we don't monitor them."