By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 16 Jul: A leading organisation working in the field of science, SPECS, has claimed that water supplied in most parts of the state capital, Dehradun, by the Peyjal Department is not potable. Secretary of SPECS, Dr Brijmohan Sharma stated that this was revealed during the testing of water samples collected from various parts of the city by the SPECS team and these areas included VIP areas.
Dr Sharma claimed that even the water samples collected from the residences of ministers, MLAs and the District Magistrate, Dehradun, were not found to be of potable quality. He added that the testing of the samples collected from various parts of Dehradun was carried out at the SPECS laboratory, which had been established with the help of Department of Science & Technology of Government of India. He disclosed that the technicians working for SPECS had collected the samples of water being supplied in various residential areas of the city during a campaign between 5 June and 8 July, this year.
It may be recalled that SPECS has been working on the quality of drinking water in Doon since 1990 and has also been running a clean water campaign to make the general public aware about the quality of drinking water. In the current campaign, samples of drinking water were collected from 125 sites. Sharma added that ninety percent of the samples collected did not meet the standards approved for potable water.
While coliform was found in excess of the standards in 33 samples, faecal coliform was detected in 5 samples much in excess of the standards approved in this regard. No coliform was detected in 81 samples collected from various parts of the city. No chlorine was found in 49 samples collected from various places which showed that the water had not been treated properly before the supply. Chlorine amount in 53 samples was found to be in excess of the approved standards while, in 6 samples, chlorine was found to be several times in excess of the standards, rendering the water unsafe for drinking. Only in 7 places, chorine was detected as per the standard protocols in this regard. It may be recalled that as per the approved standards, there should be 2 mg of chlorine per litre of water.
