June 6, 2004

IT was May 19 when I returned from the university, tired and worn out after my last paper. As a newspaper addict, I had not had a chance to go through the paper, so that day the first thing I did was to pick it up and was shocked to read in a news item that the water in Hyderabad was unfit for drinking! I knew that there was some sort of problem in the Indus River water but to what extent, I was unaware.

Since 73 per cent of the human body is water, imagine if 73pc of our body gets infected by drinking polluted water. Besides nausea and skin, kidney and eye diseases, this water can also cause typhoid and Hepatitis A. All these facts and figures puzzled me and I wondered how come we were being supplied with such highly contaminated water?

I remembered that in the examination hall, two invigilators were really obsessed by the dark layer which appeared on the surface of the water after being boiled. I also remember the valuable advice that the teacher gave me during the paper when I requested the invigilator for a glass of water: “Are you going to drink this water? Didn’t you bring any mineral water from home?” At that moment I had thought that mineral water and middle-class people don’t go side-by-side, specially with a family comprising 10 members.

And what about the poor class? Are they condemned to drink the water that is three times more contaminated than the approved safety limit? Should they see their children die or suffer from deadly diseases before their very eyes? Who will pay for their treatment? The higher authorities should think about it.

I also read in the paper that fruit, milk and vegetables are also affected. How long will this go on and when will there be a solution to the problem. These questions not only arise in my mind but that of the entire population of Hyderabad, Sindh and Pakistan.

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