Special squads to check quality of water

To ensure that tankers supply quality water, squads will be launched on Wednesday

With the increasing number of incidents of Faecal Coliform bacteria or E Coli being detected in the water supplied in some areas, the Koch Corporation authorities have come up with a plan to check the quality of water supplied through the tanker lorries.

 The civic body’s decision was made against the backdrop of criticism raised from various quarters that the Corporation was yet to take steps to ensure that the water supplied was potable.

 “We will launch a special squad from Wednesday to check the quality of water supplied through private tanker lorries. The water supplied by the Corporation is taken from Aluva Pump House and we have not received any complaints so far. As for private water tankers, we have decided to launch a system to check the quality on the spot. We will hold a meeting with the Health Department officials on Monday to enquire whether any such mechanism to check the quality of water on the spot will be made available for us,” said Kochi Corporation Health Standing Committee chairman T K Ashraf.

 However, Ashraf said that the squad would be launched on Wednesday and would make sure that only tanker lorries registered with the Corporation operate services within the Corporation limits. “Only tanker lorries that have been registered with the Corporation will be allowed to conduct services and if they do not have a valid registration number with them, the license will be cancelled,” he said.

  Ashraf also said that it is not practical for the Corporation to check the quality of  water supplied by private tanker services at the source itself. “The majority of the water sources for the private tanker lorries lie in neighbouring panchayats and municipalities. Since they are beyond the jurisdiction of Corporation it is not practical for us to check the sources,” he said.

A collective effort is necessary to sort out the issue. “The District Administration has already announced its support for the move to check the water quality. We will also request them to launch special squads to make sure that the water sources are chlorinated properly,” he said.

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