UNDER SCRUTINY:Ernakulam district administration has started acting
against errant private water suppliers
Fears of polluted water being transported in lorries continue to worry residents
Band-aid mechanisms to check quality of water being distributed in tanker lorries are falling way short of Kochi’s needs.
Even
days after the district administration started acting against
violators, fears of polluted water being transported in these vehicles
continue to worry Kochiites.
Tests conducted at the
Government Regional Analytical Laboratory at Kakkanad and the Food
Quality Monitoring Laboratory under the Council for Food Research and
Development in Konni recently had found faecal coliform bacteria or
E.coli in wells located in Churnikara panchayat, Eloor, Aluva and
Kalamassery.
District Collector P. I. Sheikh Pareeth
said there was a proposal to launch special squads to check distribution
of contaminated water. But we were yet to form these teams. Directions
had been given to set up taluk-based squads, he said.
Mr.
Pareeth made it clear that tanker lorry owners would not be allowed to
collect water from sources that were not certified by the health wing.
He said there was no shortage of water at the storage facilities of the
Kerala Water Authority at Aluva and North Paravoor from where tanker
lorries can collect drinking water for supply in the city and other
places. The District Collector said the other collection points of the
KWA include Thammanam, Muppathadam and Choondi.
Senior
officials of the Food Safety wing said inspection of tanker lorries
were carried out, if they received reports of violation of guidelines
issued by the Food Safety Commissioner regarding the quality of water
and the manner in which it was transported.
They said
there were no permanent special squads to check such incidents. The
Food Safety Commissioner had also directed the Kerala Water Authority to
supply drinking water only to tanker lorries that had food safety
licence and adhere to the norms.
However, the Kerala State Pollution Control Board are not part of any special squads to check tanker lorries.
A
board official of the water authority said they could be part of such
drives only on the basis of requests made by the health wing, board
officials said. The public can complain to the Food Safety toll-free
line (1800 425 1125) if they notice drinking water being supplied in an
unsanitary manner or in violation of the food safety norms.
Proposal to launch squads to check distribution of contaminated water
Lorry owners will not be allowed to collect water from uncertified sources
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