Court asks govt to provide safe drinking water

SHILLONG: The High Court of Meghalaya has asked the government to provide safe drinking water to citizens.
Hearing a PIL on supply of safe drinking water, the division bench comprising Chief Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir and Justice SR Sen on Tuesday asked the chairman of the expert committee constituted by the state government on the directions of the court to immediately convene a meeting within a week’s time and chalk out a complete long-term plan which should be futuristic with the aims and objectives of providing safe drinking water to the Shillong inhabitants.
The High Court had earlier issued a direction for constituting a committee of technical experts to examine the entire issue regarding supply of safe drinking water and also to suggest measures required for upgrading water quality.
The court also asked the Superintending Engineer and Executive Engineer, PHE Department to personally monitor on weekly basis the quality of water being supplied, treatment of water at various levels and to ensure that the water reaches to every area which is under their control.
The Chief Executive Officer, Shillong Municipal Board, was asked to submit his report regarding supply of water to the areas within its jurisdiction.
Notice was issued to the chairman, Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board to depute a team of experts fortnightly to collect samples at different points like filtration plant and place of supply of water and then to submit a report on quality.
The court also said the PHE Chief Engineer will ensure that samples are collected by the engineering wing and sent to North Eastern Hill University for analysis and the requisite analysis report will also be filed.
The matter has been listed for hearing again after three weeks.
The court said the aims and objectives of the Expert Committee constituted are to examine and investigate the presence of oil and grease and other contaminants, if any, in the water supplied to Shillong city from the Water Treatment Plants of GSWSS at Mawphlang.
The duty is also to find the origin and points of entry of the contaminants and if such contaminants are present, the committee should suggest ways and means to address and solve the problems so as to ensure safe drinking water from the scheme.
The State Pollution Control Board had collected samples and on analysis, it said the content of oil and grease in the water is within permissible limit. “The report is without any head or tail, absolutely unsatisfactory,” the court said.
The Chief Engineer, who was present in the court, said the pipes carrying water were checked and leakage was not noticed anywhere. However, he made it clear that the pipes are old and in the next phase, they will be removed and replaced by other pipes.