Contaminated Water creating health issues in Islamabad
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ISLAMABAD, Jul 24 (APP): Residents of twin cities of Islamabnad and Rawalipindi demand clean drinking water, as it is public right and responsibility of the Government.
The contamination of drinking water is a major public health
issue. The quality of drinking water is poorly managed. Sources of
drinking water both surface and ground water are contaminated with
different kind of bacteria, toxic metals and pesticides.
Drinking contaminated water may result in stomach ailments
like diarrhea, vomiting, etc. Weak digestive system can cause
deficiency in immune system. Contaminated water also causes
Hepatitis A and B and skin diseases.
A resident of I-9 sector Asad Abbas said," I am facing
drinking water problem from many years, some steps should be taken
from the authorities to control the situation. WASA and CDA should
renovate all the filtration plants with proper civil work
standards.They should ensure providing quality of the water as per
approved National Drinking Water Quality Standards."
"Newly Elected public representation should be involved in
policy making, legislation and implementation levels for better
service delivery and standard quality of water." He added.
The main reason of polluted water in Rawalpindi and Islamabad
are out dated sewerage system, many areas have no sewerage facility,
Over 300 poultry farms surrounding the city.
A resident of Qasim market,Rwalpindi Dr.Uzma Zaeem said," The
poor quality of drinking water has forced a large cross-section of
citizens to buy bottled water and everyone can not afford it.
PSQCA has revealed that some brands have comparatively high
level of Arsenic that can cause various types of skin diseases, diabetes,
kidney diseases, hypertension, heart diseases birth defects, black
foot diseases and multiple types of cancers etc."
"The remaining brands were found unsafe due to the presence of
higher levels of Sodium and Potassium. There should be proper
guideline to select the brand and concerned authorities should play
there role regarding checking of the brands." She demanded.
An official of Pakistan Council of Reserach in Water
Resources (PCRRWR) said,"To monitor and improve the quality of bottled water, the government of Pakistan through Ministry of Science and
Technology has designated the task to PCRWR for quarterly monitoring
of bottled/mineral water brands and publicize the results."
He said,"According to the monitoring report for the quarter
from April to June, 2016, 114 samples of Mineral/Bottled water
brands have been collected from Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Muzaffarabad
Faisalabad, Sialkot, Sargodha, Multan, Lahore, Bahawalpur, Karachi,
Tando Jam, Quetta, and Peshawar."
PCRWR Laboratories are also there for testing samples of
drinking water. Citizens can take samples of water filtration plants
and get them tested from recognized laboratories to check their
quality.Make sure that your friends and family have access to clean
drinking water.
