The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) said in a report to a court that five companies permitted to sell water in bottles and jars provide 'unhealthy and undrinkable water', reports bdnews24.com.
The five brands named are Fruits and Flavous Ltd's 'Yummy Yummy', Sinha Bangladesh Trades Limited's 'Aqua Mineral', Crystal Food and Beverage's 'CFB', Orotech Trade and Technology's 'Osma' and Sree Kundeshari Pharmacy Limited's 'SiNMiN'.
The government institution provided the report after testing water (bottles and jars) from 15 companies under the instruction of the High Court.
Deputy Attorney General Md Mokhlesur Rahman submitted the report to the bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil on Monday.
Lawyer Md JR Khan Robin represented Shammi Akhtar, whose petition had been the basis for the High Court ordering the tests.
After the hearing Robin said, "The court had requested a report after testing water in bottles and jars currently sold on the market. The BSTI conducted the tests accordingly and the report states that five of the water brands tested were unhealthy and undrinkable."
BSTI collected samples of 22 brands from the market from January 4 to January 17. The report was compiled testing 15 of the samples, said Rahman.
"The court said it would announce the steps to be taken against these companies by February 24. The court has also ordered reports for the seven samples still to be tested. The court has also instructed the BSTI to continue to collect and test water from markets every two weeks."
The court has also instructed the BSTI to submit a report within 15 days to describe the steps it has taken.
A rule was also issued by the court asking why the government's negligence in allowing such unsafe water to be sold on the market should not be declared illegal.
Seven, including the food secretary, health secretary, the director general of the health department and the WASA managing director have been instructed to respond to the rule.
The court last week ordered a report on the quality of bottled and jar water on the market.
The court had instructed the BSTI to deliver the report in a week. It was submitted accordingly on Monday.
According to the report, the BSTI's surveillance team has seized and destroyed 3,979 illegal or unsafe water jars. Twenty-four cases have been prepared against companies for marketing unsafe water.
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