MCC Starts Anti-adulteration Drive

Prof. A. Ramalingam, Member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat writes

A delegation from MGP met the Mayor and the MCC Health Officer a few days ago and demonstrated to them that all the local brand tea samples collected by MGP in Mysore were adulterated. The Health Officer promised to the agitated Mayor that action would be taken within three days to stop the menace of adulteration. Today, a Food Inspector, Mr.H.J.Suryanarayana from MCC visited two shops in Sivarampet and collected tea packets being sold there following procedure laid down by the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act,1954. The samples will be tested at an official laboratory and if the samples are found adulterated, it is expected that legal action will be initiated against the offenders.

MCC Promises To Take Steps Against Adulteration Of Tea

Prof. A. Ramalingam, Member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat writes

Mysore Grahakara Parishat has been drawing the attention of City Corporation over the last several years to the menace of food adulteration. Last week it collected tea samples from shops in 13 localities of Mysore and found that all the samples were adulterated with artificial colour. Adding colour to tea powder is illegal; drinking such tea can cause cancer and other diseases. It is deplorable that Mysore City Corporation is blind to rampant food adulteration, even though MGP is highlighting the problem again and again. To warn MCC that it should wake up to this critical problem, otherwise, MGP will intensify its fight, a delegation of MGP members met the Mayor yesterday. Prof. A. Ramalingam, Smt. Sreemathi Hariprasad, Sri M. Jayaram, Ms. K. Ranjitha, Ms. R. Vasantha and Sri. B. Basavaraju were in the delegation. As a result, a special meeting was arranged this morning with MGP representatives and Corporation officials. It was demonstrated to the officials that the samples collected by MGP were indeed adulterated. When the Mayor expressed shock, the MCC Health Officer, Dr. Nagaraj gave an assurance that steps would be taken within three days and the problem of tea adulteration solved.

Is The "Free Service" Of New Vehicles Really Free?

Prof. K.S. Mallikarjuniah, member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat writes

I recently left my Santro car at its authorized dealer in Lakshmipuram for its third free service. When I enquired about how much it would cost me, I found that I had to pay Rs. 185 for wheel alignment. I protested that this was the first time the wheels were being aligned and so it was part of the free service and I should not have to pay for it. The person in charge countered by saying that their manual includes this charge. When I objected vehemently that such unilateral conditions by the company constitute unfair trade practice, he relented and assured that the charges wouldbe omitted in the final bill. But the final bill included this amount and I was again assured that it would be adjusted at the time of the next service. As a result, right now I have been overcharged by Rs. 185.

This incident raises some important questions:

1. What is hte meaning of "Free Service"?

2. Should it not mean that only material (parts, oil, etc.) needed for the service are to be charged and the service itself is free?

3. Can the car company unilaterally include anti-consumer conditions in its manual?

4. Should such conditions not be disclosed to the public before they purchase the car?

5. To fight this injustice, is there an alternative to consumer courts?

Just Spending More Money Will Not Solve The Water Problem

V. Mahesh, member, Mysore Grahakara Parishat, writes

The Chairman of the Karnataka Water Supply and Sewerage Board has announced that the entire city of Mysore will be supplied round the clock potable water by 2012 by spending nearly 200 crore rupees under JNNURM to upgrade the water supply system. But even with this huge expenditure, it is unlikely that the Chairman's promise will be realized.

The reason for this pessimism is that more than 30 crore rupees were spent in 1998 under ADB loan to meet all the water requirements of the city upto the year 2011. It is crystal clear that this goal has not even been approached. We are in 2008 and we are constantly facing serious water shortage and epidemics caused by inadequate water treatment. The pipes were to cater to the projected population of 2026. Now, 18 years before this deadline, we are again spending a huge amount to replace pipes.

It will not be surprising if we still face water shortage (both of quality and quantity) in 2012 (contradicting the Chairman's assurance) and the people in charge will come up with a thousand crore project to solve it.

We need a paradigm shift to put an end to this ever-escalating expenditure to chase a mirage. The most important ingredient of this shift is the fact that only about 5% of the water supply is used for drinking and cooking purposes. Only this water needs to be treated to bring it up to drinking water standards. The other 95% which is used for uses such as bathing, washing, flushing and gardening needs minimum treatment. Appreciation of this fact will alone lead to savings of crores of rupees.

Identification of good drinking water sources will further reduce processing costs. Rain water should be harvested at suitable places. Such harvested rain water needs only minimum processing.