HYDERABAD: Matiari area water found unfit for drinking
By M. H. Khan
HYDERABAD, July 29: Water being supplied to people in the Matiari taluka is contaminated and unfit for drinking, a report of the chemical analysis of the water said on Thursday.
The report, which was handed over to the EDO, health, Dr Nazar Mohammad Junejo, was issued by the associate professor of pathology, Yunus Dahar, under directive of the vice-chancellor of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences.
Prof Dahar, Dr Qaiser Kaimkhani of the health EDO's office and Dr Muzaffar Samoon had collected six samples of water from the main reservoir, water supply scheme phase-I, Matiari, Maderassah Darul Uloom Jamia Ghausia Tahira, ice depot, owned by Zulfikar Ali Shah, Pirzada Mohallah, a hand pump in the Jaffar Khaskheli village, Rizwan Hotel and from the house of Mohammad Sadiq.
The team visited Matiari to examine the quality of water being supplied to people of the taluka where cases of water-borne diseases started reporting since July 18. So far, a two-and-half-year-old child, Sajjad, has died and 275 patients of water-borne diseases have been reported to the Matiari Taluka Hospital. Most of the patients are from villages of Khaskhelis, Junejos and Bhitshah.
Health officials said emergency had been declared in Matiari where leaves of doctors had been cancelled. However, they said the situation was under control and no patient had been referred to the Hyderabad Civil Hospital.
The health EDO told this correspondent that drugs and drips were being provided to patients at the Matiari hospital. He said the boy had already expired when he was brought to the hospital.
A health official said woman health workers had been directed to go to houses to educate women how to use water and added that chlorine tablets were being distributed for using in water.
Another health official said untreated water was being supplied to people who had only two sources of water, underground water and raw water of the River Indus. The EDO said the water was highly polluted as animals continued to bath in the canal from where from water was lifted and then supplied to people.
He observed that when the taluka municipal officer of Matiari was contacted he said the Taluka Municipal Administration had no funds to ensure treatment of water. The filter plant of the taluka is lying inoperative for the last more than one decade as it is damaged.
Matiari has nine union councils and the filter plant used to cater to needs of two union councils - Matiari city and Bhitshah. Residents of the seven union councils used underground water or were supplied water directly from the canal.
It was learnt that 2,000 power connections were being operated for lifting water directly from ponds, which were very small in size. The Rohri Canal is the main source of water of the taluka.
Matiari Taluka Nazim Sodhal Shah Hashmi said he had informed the Sindh chief secretary and the Hyderabad district nazim about the situation. He said Rs3.2 million had been approved for a water supply scheme, phase-II, in the taluka but no allocations had been made for the filter plant in the scheme.
Under this scheme, he said, water would be lifted from the canal and then collected in an overhead tank for supplying to people. The taluka nazim said Rs5 million was required to start the filtration process of water in the filter plant.
In three taluk as of the Hyderabad city, people have already experienced unprecedented water crisis, leading to death of 42 people, mostly children, between May and June.
