HYDERABAD, July 20: A two-member USAID mission called on the DCO at his camp office here on Monday to discuss problems of health, sanitation and drinking water being faced by the district government and other organizations in their respective areas. Speaking on the occasion, USAID mission members Rochelle Rainey, environmental health expert, and Dr Qadeer Ahsan, programme management specialist, health, said their organization was interested in capacity building of relevant organizations through technical assistance and involvement of the private sector to enable them to provide safe drinking water and proper health and sanitation facilities to people.

They said their organization was designing a new programme –water sanitation and hygienic promotion – for Pakistan. They said the designing of the programme would be completed by the end of the year in which at least two districts from each province would be included.

Dr Qadeer Ahsan was of the view that priority should be given to districts where other programmes of the USAID were in progress.

Briefing the USAID team, DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed said surface water, coming from the River Indus and its canals, was the main source of drinking water for people of the city.

He said problems of contaminated water and low pressure were being witnessed in different parts of the city because Wasa had 40 years old and non-reliable infrastructure of water supply which ran without proper water testing laboratories and mechanism to remove germs and chemical salts from water.

He said the district government planned to establish at least 10 plants of ‘water dispensers’ at different places facing problem of contaminated water supply and low pressure. He said one such plant was about to be completed with the help of philanthropists.

The DCO said five areas had been identified to improve safe water supply, health and sanitation facilities in the city which were replacement of unreliable infrastructure of water supply and drainage, additional provision of laboratory and equipment for supply of safe water, segregation of drinking water to consumers through plants, installation of sewage treatment plants and allocation of sites for disposal of solid waste outside the city.

He said erratic electric supply was another problem being faced by the Wasa management in supplying drinking water and disposal of sewage.

HDA director general Tahir Ahmad, Wasa managing director Shaukat Bhutto, health EDO Nazar Mohammad Junejo and community development EDO Mohammad Ibrahim Qureshi attended the meeting.