LAHORE, June 11: At least half of the city’s population is being supplied with unchlorinated water though Wasa officials claim to the contrary.
During the raids conducted by city district government officials on around 40 Wasa tubewells here, it was found that at 50 per cent of the facilities chlorine was not being mixed with water.
At many tube-wells either the operators were missing or the chlorinators installed at the water supply lines did not have chlorine, says a report sent to the district nazim for taking action against officials responsible for the negligence.
It is learnt that District Nazim Mian Amer Mahmood has convened a meeting of Wasa authorities for Monday (today) to address the issue. He had, keeping in view casualties in Faisalabad owing to supply of contaminated water, directed Lahore Wasa officials on May 24 to immediately start chlorination of water for making it germ-free.
The nazim has also announced that 60 water samples will be collected daily from end-users (consumers) in all nine towns of the city, but except from a few posh localities Wasa authorities have reportedly collected no samples from any area so far.
The CDGL raiding team was told by some tube-well operators that chlorine supply was not smooth, while in some cases area residents asked them (the operators) not to mix the germ-killer with the water supply, says the report.
The officials have expressed concern that absence of operators from tube-wells may provide a chance to anti-social elements to poison the water supply through chlorinators.
According to the report, the areas where water was not being chlorinated included Bakkar Mandi and D-Block Sabzazar area (in UC 114); Jhuggian Shahab Din, B, G, K and H blocks of Sabzazar (UC 113); Pir Bahauddin Shah (UC 112); Main Outfall Road; Kot Shahab Din; Main GT Road, Shahdra; Qaiser Town, Shahdra; and New Saeed Park, Shahdara.
However, Wasa personnel are chlorinating water supply to Babu Sabu; A and E blocks of Sabzazar; Main Market Riwaz Gardens; Bilal Park; Muslim Park, Rajgarh; Sardar Chappal Chowk in Bilal Ganj; Matches Factory in Shahdara; Faisal Park on GT Road, Shahdara; Old Baradari Road Farrukhabad; Jia Musa, Shahdra; Shera Kot and Awan Town.
It may be mentioned that a PCSIR report says that more than 75 per cent of the water being supplied for domestic purposes is contaminated in the provincial metropolis.