KARACHI: Despite tall claims about taking effective measures to keep Naegleria fowleri in check, the civic agencies concerned have done little to save lives as a large quantity of the supplied water is still dreadfully unhealthy and prone to help the ‘brain-eating amoeba’ to attack defenceless citizens, it emerged on Sunday.

A focal group comprising provincial and city health departments, KWSB, public health engineering department, etc, is collecting and testing samples of water supplied to the city and take effective measures to improve its quality for the past three months.

The focal group has so far worked as a reporting body and its tasks included keeping chlorine at a ‘desired level’ across the metropolis, which is yet to be achieved.

As the officials were busy in testing samples of water collected from different neighbourhoods, Naegleria claimed five lives in a month. Soon after the first death in late May the focal group reported that the city’s 41 per cent water samples had insufficient chlorine.

The latest report showed that 57pc of the total samples of water collected from various parts of the city contained chlorine equal to or more than 0.25 parts per million (ppm) — a minimum desired level of chlorination.

“The figure is not much different than what we are documenting through such practice for the last two years,” said an official belonged to the group.

The remaining 43pc water samples had insufficient amount of chlorine. Some samples showed even no chlorination at all, while the rest had it at less than the desired level, said sources.

The sources said the focal group started sampling and testing in the beginning of June and the results of the above-mentioned samples had been shared with Dawn every time the exercise is repeated to see whether the situation had improved. However, the results are almost static since.

The officials admitted that the results were highly alarming showing stationary improvement despite incessant claims by the authorities.

“The situation is not improving. Everyone has to contribute one’s due share to make it happening. Not a single body, but every authority is responsible for a lack of commitment,” said a senior official.

The sources said that the samples collected in months belonged to almost every neighbourhood of the city except for Lyari, where the samples gave quite better results despite the fact that the neighbourhood faces grave security situation.

“Although, the law and order situation is not good in Lyari, the area has water with satisfactory quantity of chlorine so far,” said an official.

The authorities understood that chlorine was available in sufficient quantity yet it was execution of a proper strategy that was lacking.

The officials said the samples collected from a number of graveyards and several mosques did not have any chlorine.

“This opens all sorts of dangerous prospects as water, which is not properly chlorinated, exposes its users to every dangerous health hazard, including naegleria, which is lethal and no cure is available to save its victim,” said the official.

Citizens horrified by the ‘brain-eating’ amoeba’s lethality feel the need to make sure that their water supply is safe.

In this situation, people are only left with a solution to mitigate the danger of Naegleria — that is paying from their own pockets for chlorination.

Taking advantage of this public concern, the people who deal in medicines have found the opportunity to make their business flourish by selling chlorine tablets; similar to those dealing in fumigation and mosquito repellents, who cash in on dengue fear.

And here come advertisements in newspapers and on websites of various outlets offering chlorine tablets of different potency depending upon the quantity of water needed to be purified. It ranges from a bucket of 20 litres to a water tank containing 3,000 litres of water.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2014