ISLAMABAD: The future of 24 water testing laboratories operating in various cities of Pakistan still hangs in balance as the federal government is still not ready to allocate funds for them, putting a big question mark over its readiness to achieve Millennium Development Goals related to provision of clean drinking water in the country.
The official record showed that the water testing laboratories were established in 2006 under the Pakistan Safe Drinking Water (PSDW) project in Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi, Bahawalpur, Tando Jam, Quetta, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Mianwali, Sialkot, Nawabshah, DI Khan, DG Khan, Muzaffarabad, Loweralai, Badin, Sargodha, Gilgit, Abbottabad and Sahiwal.
It stated the federal government has so far spent Rs1.31bn under PSDW that helped conduct survey of almost 10,000 water supply schemes and impart training to 2,600 officials in different cities of the country. The sources said some 200 technical experts working in these laboratories have not received the salary of the month of June, and they are being given indirect messages about closure of their offices.
“If the present government decides to close down these laboratories then it will not only give wrong signal to the international donor agencies that are providing technical and financial assistance to ensure provision of clean drinking water to the people of Pakistan but also deprive 200 officials of their employment,” the sources said. The official record showed that the Ministry of Science and Technology demanded Rs130m for water testing laboratories in recently announced budget, but no funds were allocated in this respect without giving any proper reason.
Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) is monitoring operations of PSDW and functioning of water testing laboratories and it is quite satisfied with the performance of the officials associated with them.
When contacted, PCRWR spokesperson Lubna Naheed said that closure of water testing laboratories would considerably minimise our capability to combat water borne diseases in the context of Millennium Development Goals because 80 percent of infectious and parasitic diseases are related to contaminated water, and 25 percent of hospital beds are occupied by people suffering from these kinds of diseases.
Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid said the PSDW project was initiated by the ministry to ensure proper monitoring of clean drinking water across the country but funds have not been allocated for this project in the current fiscal budget. Internews
