The poisonous mid-day meal in Bihar might have raised much concern over the food given to schoolchildren, but the condition of drinking water in Delhi’s municipal schools is equally alarming. The three municipal corporations have grossly failed in installing water purification system in their schools as students are forced to drink stored water. Just over 300 primary schools in Delhi have RO water purification system installed while children in remaining 900 schools have no option but to use tap water. Official sources said the water tanks in these schools are hardly cleaned and the water stored in them is unfit for consumption. What is more shocking, water samples in these schools are not tested on a regular basis, only random checks are conducted in the areas where the schools are located. Further, in a more irresponsible manner, the leaders of the three corporations held trifurcation of the MCD responsible for delay in installation of the water purifiers.
The project of installing water purifiers in its school was flagged off by the unified MCD in the year 2011. Two years down, the status of the project remains at the installation stage only. leader of House in North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), Mahender Nagpal said the process of fixing water purifiers in all its school is yet to gain momentum. “Majority of the municipal schools are running without water purifiers. The trifurcation of MCD last year stalled the installation process,” he said.
Meanwhile, a senior civic official said that these purifiers have been installed in around 10 percent of the NDMC schools which clearly indicates the lackadaisical attitude of the agency. The NDMC has 784 schools under its jurisdiction. “We are in the process of installing water purifiers. Tender process has initiated for installation of 400 purifiers and it will be completed in the next couple of months,” said Chairman of Education Committee in NDMC, Ram Kishan Bansiwal.
The condition is no different in the two other municipal corporations — South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC). While the SDMC has 588 schools, the EDMC has 337 schools under its municipal limits. Sources said water purifiers are missing in EDMC and SDMC schools, however, water coolers has been installed in almost all the schools.
However, without giving the exact number of water purifiers installed in SDMC schools, a senior claimed that majority of schools have purifiers. “I cannot be able to give the exact number of water purifiers installed in SDMC schools but around 50 schools inspected in the last one month have been found to be having purifiers,” he said. Meanwhile, water samples collected by the health department of NDMC till May 11 suggest that out of 6,922 water samples, 507 of them were found unsafe for drinking in all parts of Delhi. Nagpal said, “Of the total 507 failed samples, 487 were from six zones of North Delhi where 3,387 samples were collected. In the joint water test with the DJB, 128 samples, out of a total of 1,565 failed.”