Chandigarh: About 27% water samples from 23 districts in punjab found unfit for human consumption resulting in the outbreak of waterborne diseases. These findings and many others were revealed during a review meeting on water-borne diseases that took place on Friday, which was chaired by the state chief secretary.
In this year there have been 24 disease outbreaks, only twelve of them caused by contaminated water.
A detailed scrutiny of the waterborne outbreaks indicates nine occurred in urban areas and three affected rural localities. Disease burden analysis has shown that there were 356 cases of acute diarrhoea, 136 cases of cholera and 82 cases of hepatitis A, highlighting the need for immediate intervention to address water quality issues in the state.
There were a total of 6,939 water samples tested as at July 25th this year with up to 1,850 being detected as not fit for drinking. There is an alarming high failure rate according to their situation report and also other health facility assessments conducted in Moga where around 75% (132 out of 175 samples) did not meet quality standards.
At Kalal, Patiala- the health minister’s home district; over fourty five percent of all samples submitted for laboratory testing by State Public Health Laboratory (SPHL) failed their tests. Four hotspots with acute diarrhea outbreaks have be registered in Patiala including one reporting fourteen new cases on July twenty five.
Mohali another district highly hit registered forty seven percent failure rates among its water samples Furthermore recorded twenty-five newly reported cholera infections on July twenty fifth. In addition to that significant substandard examples were also established in Mansa (91) plus Hoshiarpur (83).
To address this challenge, different departments have been given particular responsibilities. The responsibility for chlorinating drinking water as well as routine sampling falls on local bodies and departmental entities charged with Water Supply & Sanitation. In case of an epidemic, the department will also be required to arrange for alternative water supply through tankers and other facilities in affected areas as well as rectify breakdowns of pipelines.
Health sectors have been assigned the role of supporting rural development and panchayats as part of their efforts towards remedial measures such as raising awareness on infectious diseases prevention and control in rural areas. This is not all; the department has also been asked by the ministry to do more about cleaning/collection and disposal of waste so as to prevent diarrheal diseases. There is free treatment for patients suffering from waterborne diseases at every public hospital in the state.
