Students drinking polluted water

By Ali Raza

LAHORE: Health of hundred of students is at risk as drinking water in four different schools and a college contained bacterial contamination and declared unfit for human consumption by the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA)Some months back Punjab Environmental Protection Department (EPD) in a random sampling detected bacterial contamination in different teaching hospitals and colleges included King Edward Medical College, Mayo Hospital, Ganga Ram Hospital, Fatimah Jinnah Medical College, Jinnah Hospital, Allama Iqbal Medical Colleges, Sheikh Zaid Hospital, Kinnaird College University, Lahore College Women University, APWA College, Services Hospital, New Kashmir Girls High School and Government Degree College for Women in Kot Khwaja Saeed.Polluted drinking water has already become a serious threat to Lahorites as majority of localities in the provincial capital are getting water with bacterial contamination resulting in spread of different diseases especially of stomach. Water contamination is also resulting in illnesses such as diarrhea, typhoid, intestinal worms and hepatitis among the students and teachers of these colleges as well as among the patients and their attendants.WASA officials said the common bacterial contamination found in the defective samples was the presence of Coliform Bacteria, which according to the WHO standards should be 0 in 100 ml. Officials said presence of Coliform Bacteria in water is a clear indicator that sewer water is mixed in the water distribution system.Coliform Bacteria are abundant in feces of warm-blooded animals. In most instances, Coliforms themselves are not the cause of sickness, but they are easy to culture and their presence is used to indicate that other pathogenic organisms of fecal origin may be present. Fecal pathogens include bacteria, viruses, protozoa or parasites.Following the increasing complaints of the masses regarding water contamination, WASA recently collected tap water samples from different areas of the city. During the random sampling, WASA detected water contamination in various localities including five samples from schools and a college.Two samples were collected from Dawn Public School, Saeed Park, Shahdara and both were found highly contaminated. The only sample of Govt Boys High School, Shahdara was found contaminated. The sample collected from Laureate Lahore Senior School 152, Ali Block, New Garden Town was also found contaminated.The water sample taken from the tap of the kitchen of Fast College, Faisal Town was also found highly contaminated while the sample collected from the tap of left side of the Main Gate of the Fast College, Car Parking, Faisal Town was also found contaminated.Rest of the samples found contaminated are collected from Tap R/O Muhammad Younas Mughal H # 7, Main Road Qazi Park, Shahdara, Tap H # 1082, CII, China Scheme, Tap H # 2, S # 106, Qasir Town, Shahdara, Tap H # 15, S # 2S, Saeed Park, Shahdara, Tap H # 142, S # 98, Qasim Park, Shahdara, P.S.P. Qaisar Town, Shahdara, Tap H # 125, Block DII, Gulshan Ravi, Tap H # 1152, S # 25, Madina Colony, Gulshan Ravi, Tap H # 6, S # 25, Madina Colony, Gulshan Ravi, Tap H # 6, DI, Gulshan Ravi, Tap H # 41-A, Ali Block, New Garden Town, Tap H # 4, Akbar Street, Javen Hana, New Garden Town, Tap H # 71, Ali Block, New Garden Town, Tap H#142, Habib Ullah Road,Garhi Shahu, Tap H # 86, Kachi Abadi, Habib Ullah Road, Tap H # 11, S # 13, Mohammad Nagar, Tap Moneeb Autos Workshop, Mohammad Nagar, Tap H # 307, S # 4, Marzi Pura, Tap H # 36, S # 2B, Saeed Park, Shahdara, Tap H # 29, S # 2, Saeed Park, Shahdara, Tap H # 6, S # 9, Bilal Gunj and Tap Office Union Concil District Govt.This news is published in The News on May 30, 2008.

Courtesy: pollutedlahore.blogspot.com