Contaminated water

In Umerkot, Sindh and its surrounding areas drinking water supply schemes are either rare or hardly consistent due to various political, administrative and infrastructural reasons. Thus, most households prefer to use subsoil water by installing hand pumps at households. In the past few years the quality of underground water has deteriorated. The water mafia took great advantage of the deteriorated situation and installed illegal hydrant plants in residential areas and started extracting underground water and supplying it to Umerkot and other rural areas for a hefty amount. The extraction of underground water at such mass level has degraded the quality of water and residents are compelled to consume poisonous and low-quality water. This criminal act on the part of these opportunists and the local administration's negligence has exposed the locals to different water-borne diseases.The concerned authorities are requested to ensure the prevention of further contamination of underground water/public water resources in Umerkot town by immediately taking necessary measures. The public health department and Taluka Municipal Committee, Civil Defense Department, Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and other relevant authorities should take every possible effort to eradicate illegal water hydrants. The owners and operators of those plants should be penalised, and their plants should be dismantled immediately so that the irreversible effects of contamination of underground water can be minimised or controlled.Sawai MalUmerkot

from The News International - Newspost https://ift.tt/32dLv04