On November 16, 2019,The Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Shri Ram Vilas Paswan has released BIS’s (Bureau of Indian Standards) Water Quality Report 2019 for State Capitals & Delhi.
The test reports on samples of drinking water taken from 20 states across the country including Delhi.
Findings: Mumbai ranked number 1 in this report as all 10 samples comply with every standard. Hyderabad (Telangana) is at number two and it was followed by Bhubaneswar,Odisha (3rd ). Delhi’s water is the worst as all the 11samples drawn from various places did not comply with the requirements (19 out of 28 parameters failed).
Key Points:
i.The BIS standard involves 48 different parameters. Samples are being tested under 28 parameters, leaving out parameters related to radioactive substances and free residual chlorine.
ii.The test was conducted in the first stage on various types of organoleptic (which identify odour, turbidity and pH levels), chemical, toxic substances, antibacterial-parameters.
iii.By 2024, the central Governmnet has set a target to tap every house in the country and provide pure water under its flagship Jal Jeevan Mission. Under this, the purity of drinking water is being investigated in the cities covered under the 100 Smart Cities Scheme, including the capital of all the states of the country. All district headquarters are expected to be tested by August 15, 2020.
Here’s the list top 3& bottom cities in the report:
| Rank | Capital | No of Samples Failing | No of Parameters in which samples failing |
| 1 | Mumbai | 0/10 | 0 |
| 2 | Hyderabad | 1/10 | 1 |
| 3 | Bhubaneshwar | 1/10 | 1 |
| 20 | Kolkata | 9/9 | 10 |
| 21 | Delhi | 11/11 | 19 |
About BIS(Bureau of Indian Standards):
Formed -23 December 1986
Headquarters – New Delhi
