Haris Toogo
SOPORE: In a sorry state of affairs of Public Health Engineering (PHE) department, the inhabitants in different areas of district Baramulla are being supplied untreated water directly from canals and rivulets as most of the filtration plants are defunct, causing a major health risk.
The figures revealed in a (Right to Information) RTI reply states that the district Baramulla has total number of 75 water filtration plants (excluding Uri) of which 10 fall under sub-division Sopore, 23 under sub division Tangmarg, and 40 under sub-division Baramulla of these, 27 are defunct.
Sources in the department said that they filter the water by old techniques of gravels and sand filters. As of now, they don’t have any new technique or equipment for water purification except the introduction of boulders from past five years.
However in the absence of water filtration, the inhabitants have time and again raised apprehensions of breakout of water borne diseases. They also said that even the households throw garbage into Jehlum, the source of water. “Every morning as people leave their homes for offices, shops, etc, they carry garbage bags to throw into the river at cement bridge Baramulla,” says Abdul Majeed, a local.
Majeed recalls that the river water used to be clear like a mirror in past and people used to fetch water for drinking from it.
Meanwhile people in Sopore said that the PHE department is not showing any concern towards the serious matter of public health. “We are facing water shortage. The water we receive is only chlorinated and not filtered despite having a filtration plant in place,” said Javeed Ahmad, a resident of model town Sopore.
He alleged that the filtration plants are not being by the concerned employees, which indicates the lethargic attitude of theirs. The inhabitants’ demand attention of the PHE minister Sham Lal Choudhary to look into the lapses at the part of officials, risking health of people. They said that they fear outbreak of epidemics due to consumption of unfiltered water.
The Public Health Engineering (PHE) department in the RTI filed by this correspondent has acknowledged that with the passage of time, slow sand filtration plants get defunct due to the high turbidity at sources by heavy rains which results in the choking of filtration plants.
“To make these plants functional the department needs to revamp, for which proper plan is framed and work is executed in accordance with the funds made available by the government for the same financial year,” department claimed in the RTI reply.
Officials said that three filtration plants situated in Rafiabad area are defunct due to the choking of filter besides the court stay order by the land owner of the village. “Most of the filtration plants at Pattan area need revamping”, they added.
Pertinently the three filtration plants in Baghiisalm, Azadgunj and Jetty colony Khawaja Bagh, Baramulla which were constructed decades ago have lost their filtration capacity.
Health experts said that the contaminated water supply is one of the main causes of higher incidence of water borne diseases in the area. Doctors in the Sub district hospital Sopore said that they are facing huge rush of patients suffering from diseases like Hepatitis, jaundice, Diphtheria and typhoid.
“People must drink boiled water or water mixed with chlorine tablets to prevent diseases like Hepatitis, jaundice, Diphtheria and typhoid”, said Dr Shahid (MBBS) working at Sub district hospital Sopore.
The total cases recorded in the Sub-District Hospital Sopore related to waterborne diseases year 2012-2014 were 26532m revealed a study conducted by Manzoor Ahmad Wani and others.
The study named “Impact of drinking water quality on the health status of people in Sopore Tehsil of district Baramulla” also revealed about 32.90 percent were suffering from waterborne diseases like Diarrhea, Hepatitis-A, Gastro intestinal, Dermatitis, Conjunctivitis and enteric fever.
