MULTAN, Sept 24: A water treatment plant at Fowara Chowk has been closed for five months after it emerged that substandard material was used in the plant which could have caused hepatitis and other waterborne diseases among the users, said Local Government Assistant Director Khawja Muhammad Anwar.

Union Council 39 Nazim Moazam Kamran Babar and his deputy Dr Sami Rauf Ansari inaugurated the plant on April 15.

Mr Anwar said that verifying companies had confirmed substandard material in the plant and feared that water of purification plant could have broken out hepatitis and gastroenteritis among its users.Dr Ashraf, general physician at Nishtar Hospital, said that water in Multan was unsafe for human consumption due to bacterial contamination.

He said that water treatment plants should be run by experts and sampling of water points should be carried out on regular basis by health authorities.