HYDERABAD, Dec 18: A committee of experts should be formed to look into the problems of releasing Manchhar Lake water into the River Indus, said Director, High-tech Central Resources Laboratory, University of Sindh, Dr M.Y. Khuhawar.

Experts with considerable experience should be taken from the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, University of Karachi, PCSIR laboratories and National Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, he said.

In a statement faxed to Dawn, he said that the situation at Manchhar Lake was hitting headlines for last four years creating confusion and problems with regards to human health.

He said that the condition of Manchhar lake had remained static for last few years with seasonal variations, including highest salt concentration during March-May and lowest in August-November.

Similarly, seasonal variations in salt contents at River Indus could be predicted on the experience of last two decades, he said and added that statistically it was possible to work out dilution ratio throughout the year.

He suggested that the ratio of Manchhar-River Indus (1:30) would enable to keep salt levels at River Indus within the World Health Organisation standards (TDS 500 mg/L) but the dilution ratio of 1:100 would not result in significant effect on average water quality of River Indus.

The Hyderabad Development Authority, in the last two years, made many efforts for controlling the quality of drinking water, he said.

However, he maintained that the highly disturbing claims were being made about the quality of water in Manchhar Lake and its effect on the River Indus and on humans benefiting from the Kotri Barrage and downstream.

It was also being suggested to purify the water through expensive reverse osmosis process, said Dr Khuhawar.

He said that generally it was accepted that purification processes may be applied at the source rather than at the end and added that the cost should be paid by polluters and not consumers.

Nazim opens asphalt road: Inaugurating the sewerage line and an asphalt road from Memon Hospital to Habib Hotel, the District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil said that the road would not only benefit residents but also the suburban population coming to Hyderabad daily.

District Nazim during the inaugural ceremony held on Thursday said that the residents, particularly of 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14 and 15 union councils of City taluka would benefit the most.

The purpose of laying sewerage lines before the construction of roads was to ease the sewerage problem, he said.