AS a result of technological advancements, water is often contaminated with physical, biological and chemical impurities. The most dangerous impurity is biological, which causes health problems and deaths in humans. Millions of people in Pakistan are affected physically and financially due to contaminated water.
Access to clean and safe drinking water is a fundamental human right. But unfortunately, the quality of drinking water in various cities has gone worse. Pakistan Vision 2025 and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 impose obligations on Pakistan to achieve its water and sanitation goals. Besides, the 2018 National Water Policy has placed a premium on making safe drinking water available.
According to a report by the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), the samples taken from most cities of Sindh were found unsafe. The contaminants included bacteria, turbidity, and total dissolved solids (TDS).
Other community health studies estimate that poor drinking water quality causes approximately 50 per cent of diseases and 40pc of deaths in Pakistan.
Waterborne diseases in Pakistan include typhoid, giardiasis, intestinal worms, diarrhoea, cryptosporidium infections, and gastroenteritis. According to an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) report, infant deaths from water-related diarrhoea account for 60pc of all deaths in Pakistan; the highest in Asia.
The quality of drinking water has deteriorated over the years because of poor sanitation, treatment, and monitoring. Waterborne diseases, such as dysentery, cholera and hepatitis, have caused adverse effects on the health of the people in urban and rural areas of the country.
However, properly quantifying the danger is extremely difficult due to several factors, including under reporting and poor record keeping in healthcare facilities and hospitals regarding a lot of diseases caused by contaminated water.
Adil Mir Korejo
Islamabad
Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2021
