Water samples fail purity test, indicate presence of bacteria
JALANDHAR: Following the outbreak of alleged jaundice, the water samples collected by the district health department from the affected localities, including Ganesh Nagar, Basti Bawa Khel and Basti Danish Manda, failed in the purity test conducted here on Friday.
After deputy commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav’s surprise visit, the health department had swung into action on Wednesday. A team of senior health officials collected the samples and distributed chlorination tablets in the affected localities, following complaints about diseases caused due to the contaminated water. As per the information the collected samples failed in the purity test and were found unsafe for drinking. The health department collected a total of 47 samples in June, out of which 18 samples were found unsafe for drinking.
Putting the residents’ lives in danger, the district administration does not even have proper and latest equipment to test the contaminated water.
According to sources some samples also indicated presence of E Coli bacteria, which is considered dangerous for health. A senior health official here said presence of E Coli bacterium in water indicates mixture of sewage or animal waste, resulting in diarrhoea and even kidney failure. District health officer (DHO), Dr Jasbir Singh, said, “We will write to the municipal corporations about the contaminated water supply and ask them to check the same so as to prevent spreading of water-borne diseases.”
He added that a health department team had been assigned the work of spraying disinfectants in areas with stagnant water and chlorination of the contaminated water.
In the last six months, around 298 water samples have been collected by the health department, while 112 have been collected by Jalandhar municipal corporation (MC). Out of the total, 92 samples collected by the health department and 27 by the corporation failed to clear the purity test.
Officials in the local bodies department said the Jalandhar MC had set up more than 480 tubewells across the city to supply adequate drinking water to the residents, but none of the tubewells had a working chlorination dozer to provide pure water supply.