KMC keeping tab on water quality following Hepatitis A outbreak

KOLKATA: Days after the outbreak of Hepatitis A in areas under ward number 99 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation in Ramgarh, Vidyasagar Colony and Baghajatin, the civic authorities are regularly keeping a tab on the quality of water being supplied in the area including packaged drinking water and from deep tubewell.
“We are regularly and closely scrutinising the quality of water there. The water of the deep tubewells there are also being tested and reports are coming regularly,” KMC mayor Firhad Hakim said on Thursday.
The mayor further added that there was a problem some time back but that situation now was absolutely normal. “There was nothing to panic. Everything now was normal,” he said.
Asked whether the KMC authorities would again conduct any drive to check the quality of packaged drinking water, mayor said that a drive will be conducted as per government instructions. “A policy has to be taken in the government level regarding the issue of packaged drinking water. We had previously conducted drives and will again conduct drives as per government instructions,” the mayor said.
Following the Hepatitis-A outbreak, the KMC had collected water samples from both packaged drinking water and from water taps. Out of the 14 samples, confluents that causes jaundice were found in seven samples collected from packaged water jars and in five samples collected from water taps, though no contamination was apparently found from the standposts.