1,209 schools without potable water in Multan

MULTAN: Thousands of students in more than 1,000 schools are using contaminated water and at the risk of contracting waterborne diseases.

According to the Punjab government’s multiple indicators cluster survey (MICS) report, 1,209 schools are without potable water in the district while the potable drinking water facility is available in 105 schools. The MICS has recently got water samples of 375 schools tested from public health laboratories, which have declared water samples of 270 schools as not fit for drinking.

The alarming situation is promoting waterborne diseases in the public sector schools where blood screening facilities were not available, the city district administration officials said.

They said that the situation was worsening due to unabated seepage of filthy water and unavailability of funds to improve the situation.

They said that 55 per cent water supply schemes under the Public Health Engineering Department would become redundant in 2020 for want of funds.

The PHED had handed over these schemes to the Multan district council, they added. The Punjab Planning and Development Board in collaboration with the PHED had proposed a number of schemes in the Annual Development Programme 2020/21 and the PPDB had recommended installation of new water filtration plants in schools and colleges to overcome the situation, they said, adding that the scheme would be executed on the availability of funds.

Punjab Teachers Union vice-president Rana Altaf Hussain said that the city district government and Water and Sanitation Agency had failed to provide clean drinking water in the district.

The city district officials said that the problems would be solved under the Aab-i-Pak project.

They said that Deputy Commissioner Amir Khattak had planned installing 80 water filtration plants in the district under the Aab-i-Pak Authority. Five filtration plants would be installed in each provincial assembly constituency and physical and technical work was in progress in this regard.

They said that the report would be submitted to Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar for his final approval. The city district administration said that the public sector schools and colleges would be given priority in the plan.

Deputy Commissioner Amir Khattak said that he was taking steps to ensure provision of potable water in the schools. He said that he had made a number of water filtration plants functional despite shortage of funds.