61% water samples from Patiala unfit for drinking

Gagan K Teja Tribune News Service Patiala, January 1 Sixty-one per cent of the samples collected from Patiala, Rajpura, Samana, Nabha and Patran have been found unfit for drinking. Of the 92 water samples supplied by the Patiala Municipal Corporation and the four municipal committees in the past year, 53 have failed the test. Of the 564 water samples collected from the district in 2014, over 40 per cent have been found to be non-potable, whereas 59 samples are yet to be tested. Moreover, 43 per cent of the water samples collected from rural areas (31 out of 72 samples) have been found unfit for drinking. The situation is grave in government offices with eight out of 15 samples failing the test. In government schools, out of 80 samples, 30 are unfit for consumption. Out of the 231 random samples collected from restaurants, marriage palaces, dhabas and tube wells, 32 per cent have failed the test. A senior Health Department official seeking anonymity said, “The Health Department is helpless as we cannot penalise the departments supplying unhygienic water.” Patiala Municipal Commissioner Indu Malhotra claimed the corporation was regularly chlorinating the water and the consumers were at fault most of the times. “The service pipes are rusting and need to be repaired. This leads to collected water samples failing the test. On our part, we chlorinate the water whenever we receive test reports,” Indu said.