2,217 water samples fail in Bhiwani district

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, July 6

In a shocking revelation, the Bhiwani Health Department found 2,217 water samples contaminated, thus unfit for consumption in the district this year.

The Health Department collected 16,716 samples of potable water being supplied by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and private suppliers. However, nearly 13 per cent of the total samples failed the quality tests due to high levels of contamination.

Bhiwani Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Raghuvir Sandilya said they had shared the results of the tests with the Deputy Commissioner and the district office of the PHED for their perusal. He said they were waiting for necessary action so that the quality of potable water, being supplied to houses in the district, could be improved.

The CMO said they had deployed multi-purpose health workers (MPHWs) in the district who took samples from Bhiwani town and rural areas of the district. “We have deployed 22 teams in Bhiwani and 138 teams in rural areas to collect water samples,” he said.

Dr Sandilya said though all the samples had passed the chlorine test, 2,217 had failed the bacteriological test and were found unfit for human consumption. “We have been collecting 150 to 200 water samples daily in the district. The consumption of contaminated water results in gastroenterological diseases and we aim to check the spread of such water-borne disease as much as possible,” he said.

PHED official Ashok Bhatti said there might be multiple reasons, including unclean hands of the person collecting the sample, for the failed tests. “It might be possible that filters are not working properly or there is a mixture of soil in the water due to excessive rains. We usually get a sample retested after it fails the test. The department has also issued necessary instructions to the official concerned deployed in the area,” he said.

The residents of a number of localities and the municipal council members have complained about the supply of sewage mixed water in the last few months. The PHED officials even admitted that there had been problem in supply of water due to a leakage in the sewerage pipelines.

The residents also blocked the Delhi-Pilani road and even locked up the waterworks office to highlight their water woes recently.

BJP MP from Bhiwani Mahendragarh Dharambir Singh also rapped the government officials for flawed implementation of the AMRUT scheme in the district in a meeting with officials on June 14. The district administration tried to placate residents with open camps which were attended by the PHED officials, but these, too failed to resolve their problems.