E-Paper
Water from Fatehgarh Sahib villages found contaminated
Water samples from the district have failed the health department purity test. In grave danger to public health, people continue to receive this contaminated water.
Water samples from the district have failed the health department purity test. In grave danger to public health, people continue to receive this contaminated water.
Public at large is anguished over the bacterial contamination of water. Of the 15 samples that the district health department collected in May from different villages, six were found unfit for drinking.
These samples were from Rukree, Harbanspura, Khumb, Khamano, Chunni Kalan and Bassi Pathana villages. Of the 28 samples gathered in June, 11 failed. These were from Mandi Gobindgarh (5), Bassi Pathana (2), Chanarthal (2), Sirhind (1), and Badali Ala Singh (1).
Of the 25 samples picked up in July, eight were impure. These were from Khera (2), Kanjari (1), Bharpurgarh (1), Hansali (1), Bibipur (1), and Hindupur (1) villages, besides Sirhind (1). The report for August is yet to come out, and the samples for September are yet to be moved to laboratory.
“These were random samples. At places from where the impure specimens were collected, we had chlorine passed in water to kill the bacteria; and took later samples for analysis,” said
Fatehgarh Sahib Civil Hospital sanitary inspector Darshan Singh.If the samples failed again, the water was chlorinated again. “We advised the residents to drink only boiled water until the report was out,” said Darshan Singh.
Another health department official said on the condition of anonymity that water contamination was a long-standing problem in the villages of the district, and the department had recommended people unofficially to install purifying systems.
He said that the shortage of staff in the department had also slowed down the gathering of water samples, even as the contamination was “alarming “.
