ISLAMABAD, March 26: Majority of the residents in the twin cities of Islamabad-Rawalpindi are getting contaminated and unhygienic water — the main source of spreading infectious diseases, says an expert.

About 75 per cent of water in the Federal Capital and 87 per cent in Rawalpindi, is hazardous for health due to bacterial contamination; over 40 per cent water in the twin cities is microbiologically not fit for human consumption, Dr Haroon Ibrahim, a water expert, said at a seminar organized by The Network for Consumer Rights Protection here on Wednesday.

He said, even bottled water is not according to national standards and unfit for consumption. Samples of bottled water of different companies tested for quality also showed that 52 per cent water is not fit for human consumption.

Access to safe water is considered as an undisputed component of health and universally recognized basic and essential human need, he said, adding management of water, its equitable distribution between the federating units and access to safe and hygienic water remain the major issue in Pakistan.

Almost all-rural areas, excluded from public water supply system, depends upon pumped underground contaminated water.