Bottled danger
Old Dhaka traders make quick bucks on tap water in used container
Naimul Haq
Unscrupulous traders in Old Dhaka fill up thousands of empty plastic water bottles with tap water and fix fake security seals to them for commercial sale.An investigation by The Daily Star yesterday revealed that these traders in Chankharpool and Keraniganj are doing a booming business in fake mineral water, posing serious health hazard. Some of the traders said they buy each 'flawless' bottle for Tk 0.20. "Bottles with dents or without proper labels are rejected. But we don't mind if the lids are damaged since these could be produced elsewhere," said one of the traders at Nawab Katra Road. Another trader, who purchases such used bottles worth around Tk 2,000 to Tk 5,000 a day, said, "We resell the bottles to some other traders who clean them and refill them with plain water. These are then supplied to markets." After filling up, the bottles are wrapped with transparent plastic sheet and put in boxes, just as the original manufacturers would do. The finished products look exactly like the original ones. There are several small tin-shed 'plants' in Keraniganj where such brisk businesses are going on for years. It is alleged that the traders pay huge bribes to local police to run the illegal business openly. Keraniganj police, however, said they do not know about any such unscrupulous trade. Duty Officer Abdul Majid said, "We have no knowledge about such activities. We never received any complaint." When contacted, some top manufacturers of bottled drinking water said the illegal trade in water is posing a major problem to business and health hazard. A senior official of Partex Beverage said, "On the one hand, we are losing financially as the fake products are distributed at almost half our product price. On the other, consumers may lodge complaint against us since the bottles carry our labels." He however said Partex bottles, with the brand name 'Mum', have special security seals to guarantee untampered safe water. Mahbubur Rahman, managing director of Exim Trade that bottles water under the brand name 'Fresh Water', expressed similar concerns. "The issue was raised at a meeting with the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Monday. But there was no immediate solution," he said.
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