Punjab will soon have Drinking Water Quality Testing Regulatory Authority in the State to ensure supply of potable drinking water to all the rural areas of the State.
The regulatory authority would ensure hygienically tested quality drinking water in all villages, besides focusing on maintaining database and documentation of good practices involved in the supply of high quality drinking water. The announcement to this effect was made by Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal on Friday, during a meeting to review progress of various rural water supply schemes under prestigious World Bank Project Stage-I with seven-member World Bank team at CM residence, to ensure the adherence of the prescribed quality norms for potable water supply fit for human consumption.
The team was led by its senior Water and Sanitation Specialist and Task Team leader Srinivasa Rao Podi Pi Reddy. Badal said that the regulatory would be mandated to ensure hygienically tested quality drinking water to the people residing in villages across the State to save them from falling prey to the water borne diseases, including the deadly menace of cancer, especially in the Malwa belt due to excessive use of pesticides, insecticides besides the presence of heavy metals like nickel, chromium and uranium etc in the groundwater. Badal also asked Reddy to explore ways and means to provide safe drinking water in the corporation cities of ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala, and Bathinda on the basis of their expertise and vast experience.
Reddy assured him that he would soon convene a meeting of country’s eminent scientists, hydrologists, and water experts to deal with the problems related to safe potable water supply in cities, cleaning of ponds and treatment of sullage and wastewater making it fit for irrigation purposes.