Water testing picks up pace in Punjab villages, 6% samples unfit

Nitin Jain

Ludhiana, April 19

To ensure clean and safe potable water supply to residents of villages, the testing of drinking water has picked up pace in the state under the Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), the government has confirmed.

OfficialSpeak

States and UTs have been advised to carry out testing of drinking water sources once a year for chemical and physical parameters and twice a year for bacteriological parameters. — Vini Mahajan, Secy, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Jal Shakti Ministry

Besides setting up 32 water testing laboratories, the villagers were also trained to test water supplied on their doorsteps using field testing kits (FTKs) in the state, officials have revealed.

The status of testing of drinking water samples, compiled by the JJM, a copy of which is with The Tribune, indicated that as many as 21,052 water samples were collected, of which 19,215 have so far been tested through 32 water testing laboratories in the state and 1,110 water samples, which accounted for 5.78 per cent, were found contaminated.

Besides, 54,868 water samples were tested using FTKs in 2,649 villages, of which 452, accounting for 0.82 per cent, were found contaminated.

The state’s water contamination average of 5.78 per cent pertaining to samples tested at laboratories and 0.82 per cent pertaining to FTKs was much below (almost 60 per cent less) than the national average of 14.31 per cent (laboratories) and 86 per cent less than 6.07 per cent national average of water samples tested through FTKs.

National figures showed that as many as 2,025 laboratories were set up across the country, in which 46,84,697 water samples were tested in 4,10,675 villages, and 6,70,401 samples, accounting for 14.31 per cent, were found contaminated.

As many as 31,23,303 samples were tested in 1,13,462 villages across the country using FTKs, of which 1,89,676 samples were found contaminated, which accounted for 6.07 per cent.

The state and UT-wise figures revealed that 97 of 1,292 samples tested at laboratories were found contaminated in Andaman and Nicobar, 16,760 of 4,02,941 in Andhra Pradesh, 78 of 29,611 in Arunachal Pradesh, 18,152 of 2,38,266 in Assam, 9,942 of 2,30,409 in Bihar, 2,060 of 77,369 in Chhattisgarh, 24 of 11,246 in Goa, 20,712 of 2,63,9267 in Gujarat, 6,897 of 1,00,672 in Haryana, 25 of 2,99,244 in Himachal Pradesh, 934 of 2,20,518 in Jammu and Kashmir, 1,474 of 1,71,600 in Jharkhand, 14,729 of 1,84,017 in Karnataka, 1,97,720 of 2,63,781 in Kerala, 184 of 7,740 in Ladakh, 122 of 4,165 in Lakshadweep, 2,350 of 3,97,818 in Madhya Pradesh, 9,117 of 87,895 in Maharashtra, two of 19,590 in Manipur, 52 of 8,827 in Meghalaya, 880 of 22,105 in Mizoram, 438 of 6,358 in Nagaland, 12,442 of 2,41,493 in Odisha, 11 of 1,382 in Puducherry, 37,830 of 1,26,873 in Rajasthan, 21 of 7,024 in Sikkim, 3,915 of 3,75,092 in Tamil Nadu, 524 of 2,56,001 in Telangana, 2,697 of 34,284 in Tripura, 17,155 of 1,14,996 in Uttar Pradesh, 73 of 79,134 in Uttarakhand, and 2,91,874 of 3,79,812 water samples tested in West Bengal were found contaminated.

The state and UT-wise water samples tested through FTKs indicated that 141 of 872 water samples were found contaminated in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 2,653 of 2,63,950 in Andhra Pradesh, four of 15,241 in Arunachal Pradesh, 8,670 of 3,06,666 in Assam, 9,242 of 8,91,751 in Chhattisgarh, 0 of 376 in Goa, 256 of 44,726 in Gujarat, 5,382 of 1,50,233 in Haryana, 589 of 90,458 in Himachal Pradesh, 1,194 of 18,099 in Jammu and Kashmir, 115 of 13,632 in Jharkhand, 4,879 of 1,43,269 Karnataka, 1,48,365 of 3,67,607 in Kerala, 21 of 2,496 in Ladakh, 515 of 1,59,643 in Madhya Pradesh, 2,882 of 42,358 in Maharashtra, 7 of 19,926 in Manipur, 34 of 4,220 in Meghalaya, 70 of 10,273 in Mizoram, 34 of 20,328 in Nagaland, 701 of 1,65,465 in Odisha, 390 of 5,931 in Rajasthan, 67 of 1,169 in Sikkim, 15 of 2,78,122 in Tamil Nadu, three of 1,035 in Telangana, 181 of 18,247 in Tripura, 1,578 of 26,583 in Uttar Pradesh, 235 of 5,758 in Uttarakhand, and 1 of 1 water sample tested through FTKs in two villages of West Bengal were found contaminated.

As per existing guidelines under the Jal Jeevan Mission, IS 10500 was adopted for ensuring clean and safe drinking water supply, said Vini Mahajan, Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.