A Supreme Court hearing today gave 10 days to the Water Quality India Association to submit all materials to make their case that Reverse Osmosis purifiers are a necessity in Delhi. The court directed the association to submit its materials to the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change. 

The association had filed a Special Leave Petition with the apex court seeking a stay on a National Green Tribunal order that directed the ministry to ban ROs in areas where the tapped water supply is below 500 TDS (total dissolved solids). The order, dated November 4, also directed the ministry to frame fresh guidelines for ROs to ensure minimum wastage of water.

The Water Quality India Association used a recent study by the Bureau of Indian Standards on the quality of tapwater as evidence to back its argument. The study rated Delhi as having some of the poorest quality tapwater out of 21 cities. 

The study itself is shrouded in controversy. Yesterday, Newslaundry published an exclusive story on how BIS counts among its members six companies that manufacture water purifiers. Most of these companies are members of the Water Quality India Association. 

Environmental lawyer Rahul Choudhary — who represents Sharad Tiwari, the petitioner against the RO companies — said the association “asserted” the relevance of RO by arguing that TDS of water in the city is “much higher” than the standards set by BIS. “They backed it with the study that BIS came out with a week ago,” Choudhary told Newslaundry. Chaudhary said the association cited a sample — one of 11 samples in total used in the study — taken from the house of Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, in which “alumunium and chloroform were found”.

In the Supreme Court, the Water Quality India Association argued that they were not given enough time to prove their side. “They will submit their report to the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change in 10 days. The ministry will consider it before coming out with a notification,” Choudhary added. 

The ministry had sought eight months to implement the order.  On November 4, the NGT categorically told ministry officials that the order must be implemented by December 31 — otherwise the salaries of the concerned officials will be discontinued.