KARACHI, July 23: The drinking water being provided to the PIA’s Engineering Department is unfit for human consumption and does not meet the WHO standards, it is learnt reliably.

The claim is based on lab test reports and according to sources, the tests were conducted not only by the country’s premier scientific organisation, the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR), but also by the PIA’s in-house doctors.

The sources said that PIA’s chief engineer base management, Ghulam Sarwar, has approached his bosses and top management officials, including SVP (Engineering), SVP Safety and HSE, MTS (Finance), ME (P&B) Maintenance asking them to prepare a contingency plan on a priority basis for some alternative arrangement to ensure safe drinking water for PIA employees. Mr Sarwar, in his communication has said, “An analysis was carried out by a team of PIA doctors, led by Dr Mohammad Yaar Khan, regarding suitability of drinking water at the Engineering Department on July 17, 2006. The results confirmed that the water is not fit for drinking.”

According to PCSIR chemical analysis, the water samples contained sodium 250ppm as against 200ppm prescribed by the WHO; chloride 372ppm as against 250ppm; and total dissolved solids 1,112ppm as against 1,000ppm. While the PIA water also contains calcium 64ppm, magnesium 51ppm, and potassium 8ppm, the WHO does not approve the presence of these substances in safe drinking water.

Meanwhile, the Air League of PIA Employees (CBA), condemning the management for putting employees’ health at risk, said underground water tank had probably never been cleaned.