HYDERABAD: A study by city-based National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (NIRDPR) on setting up reverse osmosis (RO) plants in rural parts of the country has found that some gram panchayats set up the RO systems despite having no quality-related problem in water.

In a study conducted in 21 gram panchayats of 7 States including Telangana, the NIRDPR found that only 13 out of 21 gram panchayats had set up RO plants  where it was actually needed ie places with water quality issues.  

From the 21 gram panchayats studied, NIRDPR found that while 13 of them had set up RO plants to address issues related to quality of water, the rest had set them up despite water quality being well within permissible limits. It was also found that in a few panchayats, the RO plants being operated by private players for profit or by NGOs as part of their rural development programmes.