Drinking water or Disease Agent?

The reports about the spread of water borne diseases surfacing up in some tribal hamlets of Rajouri should not be taken lightly. Last year we saw how more than a dozen lives were claimed by some “mysterious illness” in the same district. This time, if the samples taken from some villages have pointed towards contamination, there is case of a deeper probe.

But before conducting a probe, there is an urgent need to provide clean drinking water to all the affected villages, and also take a wider assessment of the water supplied to this entire district. If there is contamination of the very water sources from where the water is lifted for public supply, then it is a cause for great worry. So before the problem spreads its tentacles, the need for striking at the very root of this water is a non negotiable. A survey of the water sources and the entire network of supplies is to be taken by the concerned department.

So in the short term the two tasks to be accomplished are: one, arrange clean drinking water to the affected villages and two, take a thorough assessment of the quality of water at the source. Apart from these two measures, the government needs to put in place some long terms measures. Some of the things that need attention can be taken up quickly. One, the problem of contamination of water sources is now very rampant. We have seen how our water bodies – rivers, ponds and wells - that once provided us crystal clear water, have been turned into cesspools. We are so unforgiving when it comes to our natural resources. We have done everything to pollute any of our water bodies. When it is a given that our water bodies are polluted, what kind of mechanism is in place to clean the water, and how do we ensure a supply of clean water to each household. What is the level of technology that is in place? What is the level of professionalism that is guiding the schemes? All these questions need answers, and timely answers.