Drinking water highly unsafe in Barisal
High count of coliform bacteria in water served at hotels and restaurants
Staff Reporter, Barisal
Think twice before you ask for a glass of water in Barisal city, as tests conducted by the Department of Environment (DoE), Barisal, have revealed high count of coliform bacteria in the water being used in different hotels and restaurants there. Describing the current situation as hazardous for human health, the department has disclosed this information to The Independent ahead of World Environment Day on June 5. Sukumar Biswas, director of DoE, Barisal, yesterday said the department conducted the tests on several samples of drinking water collected from 80 hotels and restaurants in Barisal city during the first four months of this year. Experts tested the water samples in DoEs own lab and found that 54 of these establishments serve contaminated drinking water to customers everyday.
A source in the DoE, Barisal, said the level of coliform per milligram of water should be zero so that humans can tolerate it, but a dose of 2,100 per milligram of water was detected, which is horrible. The elevated level of coliform found in Barisal city is, however, not unique. High coliform count has been found in water samples collected from 108 hotels and restaurants out of 131 such establishments in Patuakhali district, 122 out of 151 in Bhola, 36 out of 52 in Pirojpur, 31 out of 41 in Jhalakathi and 63 out of 78 in Barguna district earlier. Sources said the DoE had been conducting this operation for the last four years and making its report public at regular intervals. But there has not been much improvement in terms of ensuring purer drinking water for people. The DoE, Barisal, has already sent a report to the authorities concerned for taking legal action against the owners of those hotels and restaurants that serve contaminated drinking water to their customers. Last week, it sent notices to the 54 identified hotels and restaurants to improve their quality of drinking water. Their owners were warned that strong action would be taken against them if they disregard the directive. However, the hotel owners said they only served their customers the water supplied by the Barisal City Corporation (BCC) and told the DoE to file cases against the BCC instead of them.
