Around 15-18 percent groundwater samples collected from different urban and rural areas of the country were found safe for drinking, a monitoring report said on Wednesday. The report was carried out by the Ministry of Science and Technology through the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), under its National Water Quality Monitoring Programme.
The report said the prime responsibility of provision of safe drinking water lied with provincial and local government departments. It added that the ministry had established 24 water quality testing laboratories across the country and had developed water testing kits, safe water filters, water disinfection tablets, drinking water treatment sachets and had also imparted training to 2660 professionals of water supply agencies.
“Out of the total 12000 schemes, around 10,000 water supply schemes have been surveyed so far,” the report stated.
Awareness campaigns were being held not only for the relevant agencies but also for the general public. Meanwhile, an official at the ministry said that during the last five years, PCRWR had completed a project in the name of water quality, namely “Water Quality Monitoring in Rural Areas of Pakistan and Installation of Low Cost Water Conditioning and Filtration Units.”
The project was launched a few years back and was completed with a total cost of Rs 38.7 million.
Under the project, 25 filtration plants were also installed in federal and provincial capitals.