COIMBATORE: Chennai thrives on packaged drinking water, and the water business is most lucrative. But for Coimbatore, the shift has begun. The city has always relied on Corporation supply for its needs. But not anymore.
“We receive very less drinking water from the Corporation. We need six to 10 water cans daily. Since the taste of pipe water is not good, we have shifted to packaged drinking water,” says a resident near Podanur.
The trend is catching up in eateries and bakeries.
“It has been 20 days since we got drinking water. I get four pots of drinking water from lorries arranged by Corporation, which is not sufficient to cook food.We spend over `200 daily to buy water cans,” says Shakila Begum from Edayarpayalam, who owns a mobile eatery in VOC Park.
The monthly sale of water cans has increased to 7,000-plus in Coimbatore. “Water is the main demand for the past one-and-a-half months. We sell around 370 packaged water cans per day.
The business has doubled after the city stopped receiving drinking water supply properly,” says Siddique, a water supplier.
The price of a 20-litre water can is `30. But is the water safe? “Of the 74 water supply dealers in the city, only 64 have a license from the Food and Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI),” said O L S Vijay, Designated Officer, FSSAI, Coimbatore.