Frogs, algae, coliform in drinking water supply in Haryana: CAG

Tribune News Service

Bhartesh Singh Thakur

Chandigarh, August 25

A report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), submitted in the House today, says drinking water in Haryana is contaminated with coliform, while physical and chemical parameters are beyond the permissible limits.

In an audit of rural and urban water supply schemes, CAG took samples of water supply at 25 locations in the state by the Public Health Engineering Department (13), Urban Local Bodies (eight), and Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (four). One set of samples was sent to the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) laboratory at Karnal and the other set was sent to the Shri Ram Institute of Industrial Research (SRI), New Delhi, for analysis.

14 deaths, 2,901 cases of water-borne diseases in five years

• The CAG noted that during 2016-21, 2,901 cases of water-borne diseases and 14 deaths were reported, as per information furnished by Health Department
• In four out of eight selected districts (Fatehabad, Karnal, Kurukshetra and Panchkula), 1,382 cases of water-borne diseases and 12 death cases against these cases were noticed during 2016-21
• There was no facility of physical and chemical testing at Kalka, Assandh, Indri and Hansi Sub-Divisional Water Testing laboratories

It was observed that at 12 locations (out of the selected 25), chlorination was not detected in the water samples. At 11 locations, chlorination was found to be more than the prescribed limit (maximum value of three parts per million PPM as against the requirement of 0.2 PPM) and at two locations, chlorination was found within the permissible limit. However, at the SRI lab, chlorination was found slightly above the permissible limit in two samples, and in the rest of the 23 samples, chlorination was not detected at all.

“At all 25 locations, it was observed that no record related to the dosing of the chlorination was maintained. In its absence, it is assessed that water pump operators/JEs were negligent about proper dosing for chlorination,” said CAG.

Out of the 25 locations, at seven locations Clear Water Tank (CWT)/ Over Head Service Reservoir (OHSR) was in use, and at three locations, the cleaning status was not satisfactory. There was a formation of algae inside the CWT in Katesra, frogs in CWT in Sahu, and the one at Kabrel was without cover.

There was growth of Sarkanda in the water tank at Khijuri. The CAG even published pictures to prove the fact.

In the bacteriological analysis of the samples, the presence of coliform confirmed that water was not potable, said CAG. The presence of coliform was detected in 19 samples (76 per cent water samples) out of 25 samples, as per analysis done at the PHED laboratory. However, at the SRI lab, the same was detected in five samples (20 per cent water samples).

The physical and chemical properties of water in the Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, revealed that the total dissolved salts, hardness, calcium, magnesium, chloride and nitrate were above the permissible limits at seven out of eight locations in the PHED lab, while in the SRI lab, five out of eight locations failed the tests.

It was noticed that 2,64,025 water samples were tested during the period April 2016 to March 2021 out of which 18,104 samples (6.86 per cent) were found unfit. During August 2021 to May 2022, it was found that there was no record follow-up action, implying it could not be ascertained whether timely action was carried out by the department to ensure safe and potable drinking water to the inhabitants of areas where water sample were found unfit.

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