KARACHI, Oct 24: Laboratory tests conducted on samples taken from a well in the Nek Mohammad Goth - which was recently hit by a diarrhoea outbreak in which two lives were lost - has revealed that its water is unfit for human consumption.

According to a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation, four samples had been taken from the well and sent to the microbiology department of Karachi University on the 17th of this month. The department's report said the samples were infested with micro-organisms which cause typhoid.

The details of the report were released to the media through a press release of the Edhi Foundation which said one millilitre (ml) of the water tested carried 1,430 bacteria and 100ml of coliform, which indicates an unacceptably high degree of contamination.

The spokesman for the Edhi Foundation, in response to a question, said the report was an "authentic one that was issued by a reputed institution". "There should be no doubt regarding the veracity of the report," he remarked.

He said during the four days that the Edhi volunteers worked in Nek Mohammad Goth, two fell sick. "Moreover, the children who suffered from diarrhoea during the outbreak actually threw up blood when they vomited."

He added that the outbreak had since then subsided, largely due to the fact that the villagers had stopped consuming well water. "Instead, they are using the water supplied to them through tankers sponsored either by the Edhi Foundation or the Muttahida Qaumi Movement."

The outbreak had hit parts of Surjani Town on Oct 16 following which two people - Ghani Bakhsh son of Khamisa Khan, a 60-year-old man, and his 14-year-old daughter, Rehana bint Ghani Bakhsh - died. The lives of more than 100 people, who were also suffering from diarrhoea, were saved mainly due to the efforts put in by the Edhi Foundation, which set up a medical camp in the affected area on the same day.

Next day the Khidmat-i-khalq Foundation of set up a camp in the government-run school of the area, after instructions from the adviser on health to the chief minister. On this day the health adviser - Faisal Malik - also visited the area to apprise himself of the situation.

At these two camps, more than a hundred sick people were rehydrated and about a dozen referred to the various public sector hospitals, including the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for Edhi Foundation appealed to the authorities to take immediate steps so that only potable water was supplied to the people. "Look, we have had so many cases in recent months in which many lives have been lost due to the consumption of unhealthy water. This must stop now."

He pointed out that outbreaks claimed several lives in Malir not long ago. "Similarly, an outbreak in Hyderabad also claimed a number of lives."

The spokesman said not long ago a cell had been established in the health department, under the chairmanship of the-then health adviser, to monitor outbreaks that were caused by infections.

"This cell was formed with much fanfare and publicity. News stories were published in all the major newspapers. And yet we see no improvement on the ground in the localities where the middle-class and poor families live."