T'PURAM: Eighty-four quality control labs will be set up across the state under the Centrally-assisted Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) as part of modernising the Kerala Water Authority (KWA). The labs, which would monitor the water quality on various water bodies, will be set up by March next year and create 500 new posts in KWA – 40 each of chemists and bacteriologists and 70 each of sub-engineers, lab assistants, data entry operators, field assistants and sampling assistants.
In 2007, then Water Resources Minister N K Premachandran had announced that quality control labs certified by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) will be set up in the state. At present, the state has 32 sub-district and 14 district labs for checking the quality of water, in addition to the top body, the State Referral Institute for Water Quality at Nettoor in Ernakulam.
The third state-level scheme sanctioning committee of KWA that met last month approved the Rs 112.07-crore proposal to strengthen water quality monitoring and surveillance activities in the state. Though JJM aims at providing functional household tap connections in all rural households in the state by 2024, two per cent of its allocation for the current fiscal year has been earmarked to set up quality control labs, which indicates their importance.
“Existing quality control labs in the state are on the path of revival due to the corrective steps taken by authorities. The measures led to the launching of eight NABL-accredited labs last year. Our labs undertake river surveys and also roster surveys under which water quality in wells in remote areas is examined,” R V Santhosh Kumar, KWA executive engineer (QC labs), told TNIE.
KWA is aiming to meet the demand for 5,000 million litres per day of drinking water in three years across the state and is keen on sustaining the labs beyond 2024 when the JJM period ends.
Partnership with Kudumbashree
KWA and Kudumbashree signed a Memorandum of Understanding in August, under which five women from each panchayat carry out water quality tests of 500 drinking water sources. This was launched in all 993 panchayats. The parameters of the tests include turbidity (measure of clarity), pH value, alkalinity and hardness. However, KWA is facing paucity of funds to pay the pension of its former employees and is clueless as to how it will earmark funds to pay Kudumbashree.