Shillong: Amid apprehensions that water supply provided by the Meghalaya government in Shillong is not safe for consumption, Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) minister Marcuise Marak on Tuesday assured residents that water in the city’s water is safe to consume.
The minister’s response comes at a time when an NGO called the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) claimed that the water provided to the city is not safe to drink.
On August 22, FKJGP had collected water samples from 46 different localities across Shillong city. The test was done by the State Food Testing Laboratory Commissionerate of Food Safety, Pasteur Hills, Shillong, who issued a report stating that water in 44 localities were declared as unsafe.
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Marak clarified that before supplying the water to Shillong city, the PHE department tests the water daily at Mawphlang treatment plant. He explained that the water is drawn from Umiew river and gets treated at Mawphlang and then brought it to 6 1/2 mile. The water is then moved to another tank at 4th mile which is then distributed to Municipal Tanks and other tanks in the city.
“The water supplied by PHE is clean and ready to drink or it is potable. The water brought by FKJGP, we don’t know how it is collected but to assure the residents we are providing potable water and if any of PHE tanks are found to be contaminated, we’re looking into it. So far, the water we are providing is very much safe to drink,” assured the minister.
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