Karnataka’s Food Safety Department has sealed 12 packaged drinking water units and issued notices to 53 others after inspections found licensing, labelling, sanitation and staff-certification violations across the state.
The department inspected 45 units on Thursday and 57 units on Friday as part of a special enforcement drive ordered by Health Minister U.T. Khader. Twenty-three teams conducted surprise inspections, checking water quality, bottles and operating conditions at the facilities.
Officials identified mismatched labels at some units and inadequate sanitation at several others. The inspections also found units operating without pest-control certificates and facilities where staff did not have medical certificates. The department sent 69 water samples to laboratories for testing.
The enforcement action included units in Bengaluru, Kolar, Hassan, Bidar, Kalaburagi and Mysuru districts. A unit in Mulbagal, Kolar district, was sealed because of poor sanitation. Units that were shut for operating without a licence from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India included S.P. Food and Beverages in Santepete, Hassan district; Avanti Industries and Om Shakti Minerals in Madanayakanahalli, Bengaluru; Sairam Food Beverages in Bidar district; Nandi Food and Beverages and Aqua Refresh Packaged Drinking Water in Kalaburagi; and Dalia Beverages in rural Mysuru.
At M.S. Food and Beverages in Devanahalli, Bengaluru Rural district, officials seized 82 cases of one-litre packaged drinking water valued at ₹7,380 after finding labelling defects. Officials also confiscated incorrectly labelled water bottles from three units each in Mysuru and Davanagere.
The action highlights the administrative chain behind packaged drinking water sold in urban markets: operators must hold the required food-safety licence, maintain sanitary production conditions, meet labelling requirements and ensure that personnel handling the product meet prescribed health and certification conditions. Violations can therefore affect not only the water itself but also the traceability and accountability of the product reaching consumers.
Khader said inspections would continue and advised consumers to check the FSSAI licence number, ISI mark, manufacturing date and seal before buying or drinking bottled water. He urged people to inform the Food Safety Department if they noticed anything suspicious.
“There will be no compromise on the quality of drinking water. We will take stringent legal action against anyone who plays with people’s health, irrespective of how influential they are,” the minister said. The department’s laboratory testing and further action against notified units will determine the next steps in the enforcement process.
