Drinking water: Water testing lab inaugurated in Multan

Minister for Science and Technology says that 80 per cent of the population of Pakistan was living on impure water.

MULTAN:

A water testing laboratory was inaugurated at the Cotton Research Institute on Saturday. The ceremony was presided over by Minister for Science and Technology Mir Changez Khan.

Addressing the ceremony, the minister said that 80 per cent of the population of Pakistan was living on impure water. He said the biggest reason for this was the fast growing population. He said the nation was more concerned about increasing their family size than access to clean drinking water.

He said Pakistan was losing its clean water resources and there needed to be a check on the growing size of families, especially in the rural areas.

He accused the provincial government of discrimination against south districts in the use of funds allocated for clean water. He said this was another problem. He said, “Take the example of Rajan Pur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Daajal and other rural areas in southern Punjab where people and animals drink water from the same place. However, in Lahore, Rs35,000 is being spent per person. In south Punjab, it is only Rs100.”

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2012.