Polluted water a serious health risk

DASKA – With the spread of waterborne diseases, a large number of patients, most of them women and children, have been admitted to several government and private hospitals and clinics in and around Sialkot.
Health, environment and public health engineering departments have agreed that the local water supply was contaminated and accused the Sialkot Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) of not paying attention to pipeline congestion in residential, commercial and industrial areas.
Health Department officials have confirmed that the number of such patients is rising at an alarming proportion. Local people, health authorities said, were rapidly falling victims to water-borne diseases. A number of patients have been admitted to the Allama Iqbal Memorial DHQ Hospital and Govt Sardar Begum Memorial DHQ Hospital.
Environment Department officials recently collected water samples from 33 tubewells in the city. A laboratory in Lahore declared all these samples unfit for human consumption. No wonder the people consuming this water are falling victims to cholera, hepatitis-A and gastroenteritis.
Experts say that the water was being contaminated because of rusted and broken water pipelines. Health department officials identified another cause of water contamination, which was the underground junction of rusted and broken water pipelines with sewerage lines located in close proximity.
Earlier, the Public Health Department had already declared the city’s water supply in all 16 union councils as contaminated and unfit for human consumption. The affected union councils include Mianapura, Model Town, Muzaffarpura, Imam Sahib, Karimpura, Hajipura, Ghouspura, Naikapura, Muhammadpura, Shahabpura, Roras Road, Gulshan Town, Pakka Garha, Muhallah Chah Tarkhaana and Muhallah Kashmiriyaan.
The public health department has directed Sialkot TMA officials to immediately change or repair the damaged water and sewerage pipelines. They said that a 600 hundred feet deep water boring system was needed to ensure the provision of potable drinking water in Sialkot, whereas most of the drinking water turbines were only 300 to 350 feet deep.
The health department officials have feared that the gastro epidemic is likely to break out in city’s congested residential areas at any time. The officials expressed reservations that the gastro epidemic could extend beyond Sialkot to connecting water systems if remedial preventive measures are not taken immediately.
Some Tehsil Municipal Administration officials said that they required at least Rs 35 million for replacing the rusted and damaged underground water pipelines. When contacted, the concerned officials said that under the special directions, the Public Health Engineering Department will soon launch an integrated long-term master action programme to ensure the smooth provision of clean drinking water to the people of Sialkot.
ASHURA OBSERVED: Muharram 10 was observed with reverence and religious solemnity in Daska, Sambrial, Pasror and Silakot peacefully under tight security. District police successfully implemented foolproof security plan to ensure peace and complete sectarian harmony in Sialkot during first ten days of Muharram. As many as 154 tazia, alam and zuljinah processions were taken out in Sialkot.
The processions concluded at the main imambargahs in Imam Sahib Chowk, Adda Pasruriyan and the other zuljinah processions coming from the different areas merged in the main processions at Chowk Shaheedaan. Thousands of the mourners expressed their grief by wailing and beating their chests and flagellating themselves with hands and knife-fitted chains.
Zakirs, Naat Khwaans and other religious scholars highlighted the significance of the sacrifice of Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS) and his companions. Water and milk sabeels were also set up, in contrast to the situation of Hazrat Imam Hussain (A.S) and his companions who were denied water. Sham-e-Ghareeban majlis was also held in which the mourners expressed grief at the treatment meted out to the family of Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS).
Hundreds of the police personnel and members of the law enforcing sensitive agencies patrolled in the sensitive areas and remained deployed at imambargahs and mosques. Sialkot District Police Officer (DPO) Bilal Sadique Kamiyana told Pakistan Today that Sialkot district police had chalked a foolproof security plan to ensure peace and adopted extraordinary measures for protecting the processions.
SCCI AGAINST RGST: Sialkot business community has expressed its dissent on the implementation of Reformed General Sales Tax (RGST), saying that it will ruin the export oriented industries of Sialkot, terming it as an additional burden. Silakot Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Ghulam Mustafa Chaudhry said traders have rejected the RGST, terming it against the larger interest of the business community.
They expressed grave concern on the inclusion of export products like leather, surgical instruments, sports goods, sportswear and textile in RGST. Chaudhry said that acute energy crisis had already depressed the economy to almost destruction. He revealed that ‘sales tax refund’ was not only a painful process but it caused the blockage of capital and opened up new avenues of corruption.
The SCCI demanded to continue zero rating status of exports industries of the products mentioned.