Punjab has become the first state in the north to install reverse osmosis (RO) plants to provide drinking water in 327 villages of Bathinda, Mansa, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Sangrur, Patiala and Tarn Taran, at a cost of Rs 34.82 crore.
These districts have a high degree of salinity in the ground water. An official spokesman said on Wednesday that all the schemes based on canal water, tubewell, percolation well and hand pumps were also being rejuvenated to improve the efficiency of filtration and quality of treated water. The water supply and sanitation department has also fabricated a mobile water testing laboratory to help the department in effective surveillance of drinking water quality.
To impart training to personnel and elected members of panchayati raj institutions under the Centre’s water quality surveillance programme, the water supply department has so for held 922 workshops, each in a cluster of five villages, with participation of five persons or PRI members from each village. So far, 4,779 villages have been covered under the programme in 2008-09 and each village has been provided with a water testing kit capable of testing water for eight to 12 parameters. About one lakh kits have also been distributed for checking bacterial contamination.