Barrage's chief engineer asks authorities to properly filter water before supplying to consumers
Disputing the claim of the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) regarding the readings of Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) at Kotri Barrage in Indus River, the barrage's chief engineer has written to the authorities in Hyderabad and Jamshoro to properly filter the river's water before supplying to consumers.
In a letter addressed to the commissioner, DC and Mayor of Hyderabad as well as Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) and Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), chief engineer Mir Ghulam Ali Talpur said the TDS level was 610 milligram per litre at the barrage.
According to him, as part of their routine exercise they collected samples and sent to for test to the water testing lab of Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET), Jamshoro. They report found 610 mg per liter TDS in the sample whereas the 'safe limit' is said to be below 500 TDS, Talpur stated.
"... irrigation department is responsible to provide raw water to different authorities as well as to PHED and water supply boards in different towns, villages and cities," he underlined. He reminded the officials it is responsibility of those government departments responsible for the water supply to the consumers to filter the raw water.
WASA, meanwhile, on March 28 recorded 790 mg per liter TDS at the upstream of Kotri barrage from where where three canals flow towards Hyderabad and one towards Thatta. The agency disclosed that after the filtration the TDS was reduced to around 700 mg per liter, which is far above the recommended safe drinking water.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2024.