Expressing concern over sale of refrigerated water through unlicensed water trolleys in the Capital, the Delhi High Court on Monday directed the municipal corporations and the police to stop the illegal activity at the earliest.
Health hazard
A Bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C. Hari Shankar asked the police to provide requisite assistance to all the municipal corporations — the South Delhi Municipal Corporation, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation, the New Delhi Municipal Council and the East Delhi Municipal Corporation — in removing such unauthorised trolleys.
“Dirty water is a health hazard which can cause jaundice and diarrhoea. These people don’t even wash their hands,” the Bench said.
“You go to ITO and see the people who sell fruit juice. They keep ice on pavements on which people have urinated. The water which is being used for ice formation is dirty,” the Bench observed.
During the hearing, the lawyer appearing for Refrigerated Water Licensees’ Association argued that though municipal corporations were taking action against water trolleys the police were not providing cooperation during such drives.
Advocate Ashok Chhabra, who is representing the association, said unauthorised trolleys are a health hazard to the public who drink from them as they don’t take water from licensed plants.
The court was hearing a plea filed by the association seeking action against illegal water trolleys selling refrigerated water.
The plea had claimed that polluted water containing chemicals is being sold and people are forced to drink contaminated water resulting in various water-borne diseases.
