Water monitoring to be stepped up in Delhi

The Union Health Ministry and the Delhi Government authorities held a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the reported presence of a drug-resistant superbug in the capital's public water supply.

The meeting was attended by representatives of National Centre for Disease Control, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Jal Board. The various municipal bodies presented their views on how to improve the surveillance and monitoring systems of the water supply.

“At the meeting, we decided that the surveillance and monitoring system will be improved and emphasis will be given on proper chlorination of water.

“Like in NDMC, we get bulk supply from DJB. If we conduct sample tests and find chlorine content is not proper, we can add on. The MCD also expressed the same views. Proper chlorination is important,” NDMC Medical Officer of Health, Mr P K Sharma, said.

“All the agencies like Delhi Jal Board, MCD and NDMC placed their opinion and findings on the issue. We deliberated on the Lancet report and all the agencies felt that the report was not correct,” another official who attended the meeting said.

“We reviewed whether there has been any increase in water or vector-borne diseases in the city. All matters concerning public health in the city were discussed in the meeting,” he said.

The DJB said it will further improve chlorination of water and increase frequency of testing water qualities across the city.

The meeting felt that there was nothing to be worried about following the reports.

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