HYDERABAD, Sept 2: The provincial committee for monitoring the city's water purification system has called for coordinated efforts by different departments to meet water contamination crises in future.

The committee, which met here on Thursday, noted that sewerage lines of the city had broken due to which gutter water was mixing with drinking water. Local bodies additional chief secretary Saleem Khan, who presided over the meeting, asked the participants to send suggestions to their respective departments to ensure supply of purified water to people.

He said the issue would be discussed at the next meeting, to be attended by respective departments' secretaries. Mr Khan observed that different departments were working in piecemeal and they did not share water test reports. He said the DCO should perform the role of the focal person and communicate reports to different departments.

When the additional secretary for health proposed regular tests of water quality in the city, District Nazim Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman asked community medicine professor Rafiq Soomro to provide him with an estimate of expenses on such tests so that the Sindh government could be approached for funds.

Prof Soomro said even after supply of chlorinated water to people, tests showed presence of bacteria in six samples out of 10. The district nazim opposed announcement of compensation for victims because it always led to exaggeration in the number of deaths.

He said at least three tests should be conducted on same water samples and in case of different reports, water should be referred for further tests. DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed pointed out that water tests conducted by the Sindh Agriculture University had showed that E.Coli and Coliform were present in 50 per cent samples.

Hyderabad Civil Hospital medical superintendent Dr Hadi Bux Jatoi said examinations had noted increased percentage of sodium and lesser amount of chlorides in patients.

Kotri Barrage chief engineer Agha Ali Hassan said the irrigation department would need 15 days to dilute contaminated water of the lake in case it was released into the Indus.