28 water samples from Ghaziabad fail quality, chlorine tests yet again

Results of tests conducted on water samples lifted from Ghaziabad show that city residents are at risk of contracting waterborne diseases.

Results of tests conducted on water samples lifted from Ghaziabad show that city residents are at risk of contracting waterborne diseases. Twenty-eight of the 152 samples collected from restaurants, hospitals, schools, clinics and other public places in November failed the quality test and were also found to be non-chlorinated.

According to the health department, 193 of 696 samples, collected between May and November, have failed the test. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

The samples were collected from hotels in Kaushambi, restaurants, schools, ice-cream factories, bakeries, private hospitals, nursing homes, doctors’ clinics and residential localities near the Raj Nagar district centre and near the Link Road, besides other places across the city.

Water samples from the city failing quality tests has become a regular occurrence. According to the health department, 193 of 696 samples, collected between May and November, failed the test and were non-chlorinated. Overhead storage tanks also require regular cleaning, officials said.

In samples collected from a girls’ school in the city and from hand pumps in a village, bacteriological analysis confirmed presence of e-coli pseudomonas, which can cause urinary tract and kidney-related illnesses.

Non-chlorinated water continues to be stored in tanks in public and private places despite monthly checks by a joint team of the health department and the municipal corporation. The city has 56 overhead tanks that are used by the corporation to provide water to residential and commercial areas.

“Contaminated water can also cause waterborne diseases like typhoid, diarrhoea and jaundice. We have sent the reports to the district officials,” Mishra said.

Even in areas such as Loni, which is outside city limits, water storage tanks in many schools at Indrapuri and Balram Nagar were not properly cleaned. In a test conducted in August, samples collected from this area were found to have a high value of total dissolved solids (TDS) — between 674 ppm and 835 ppm, against the permissible limit of 500ppm. In case there is no direct water supply, the permissible limit of TDS in water is 2000ppm, .

“We are taking all possible precautions and regularly get the water stored in our tanks chlorinated. A majority of the city’s population is using underground water. They should get the stored water chlorinated,” said RK Yadav, executive engineer from the corporation’s water works department.

“In some cases, residential areas may get contaminated water supply due to breach in the corporation’s water pipeline,” Yadav said.

Officials of the Ghaziabad municipal corporation estimate that nearly 20% of the city does not receive corporation water supply.

“Recently, we sent a proposal of Rs 932 crore under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. Around Rs 820 crore was demarcated for providing Ganga water to the Mohan Nagar zone. The rest of the amount, around Rs 112 crore, was for providing tubewells to supply water in areas which do not receive the supply,” Yadav said.