Exclusive Article by Dr. Mumtaz Naiyer, Southampton, United Kingdom
"Dear Friends, as we are discussing
elections, can we look into the problems our beloved district Kishanganj is
facing. I am here with the drinking water problem in the Kishanganj district."
Water holds a central place in the beliefs and practices of all the
world’s major religions. Water is the primary building block of life; without
water, there is no life. Water
symbolizes cleansing, and it is used ritually for purification. It can make a person
clean, physically and spiritually, ready to come into the presence of the
Divine.
 |
| Drinking Water Problem in Kishanganj |
Common source of
drinking water in the district:
Nature has blessed Kishanganj and the adjoining areas with very good
water table. Due to
comfortable position of ground water availability in the district, hand pumps
are the main source of drinking water supply.
Data from different sources revealed that there are 12147 hand pumps in
the district of which 3068 are non-functional. Four piped water supply schemes
for rural areas have also been implemented and two are ongoing schemes? The
district has 3960 habitations of which 1387 have been fully covered with rural water
supply. 760 are partially covered and 1813 have slipped to not cover category
as per a recent survey. State government was supposed to to tackle NC/PC
habitations by 2009 as per Bharat Nirman targets. I don’t have the recent
status of this, if anyone has please share.
Problem
of Drinking water in Kishanganj:
High Iron Content: The iron
content in the water in the district is reported as high as 3-20 mg/l against
the permissible limit of 0.3 mg/l. It means kishanganj is naturally having
10-70 times higher iron content in the ground water. It shows such water is not
fit for drinking which can be disastrous for health and mind. Iron also
promotes undesirable bacterial growth ("iron bacteria"). After the
independence, no remedial step was taken by either the state govt. or central
govt. The dwellers of this district and adjoining areas were left on the mercy
of Almighty. Iron toxicity can lead to many diseases. The effects of toxic
doses of iron include depression, rapid and shallow respiration, coma,
convulsions, respiratory failure, cardiac arrest, kidney diseases including
cancer.
Water supply status in the district:
Water Supply Scheme for Kishanganj Town: The tube
well scheme for the Kishanganj town water supply scheme is very old. It was
implemented in 1955. The 30 HP pump yields 25000 gallons per hour and pumped
into a 1 lakh gallon overhead tank. Power supply is a problem. There are 70
public stand posts and 500 house connections. The per capita water supply works
out to only 8.7 lpcd which is far short of the minimum requirement of 70 lpcd
for urban areas. The disinfection is by bleaching powder put into the overhead
tank.
Water supply scheme:
Tayabpur
rural water supply scheme : The scheme covers 7000 population in 3 villages. It
is non-operational due to breakdown in electricity supply? I don’t have the recent update of this
scheme, I would encourage if anyone can share the same.
Sanitation: There is practically
no sanitation in the district. Even in Kishanganj town, the sewage disposal is
in open drains. This leads to many health problems especially during and after
the rainy season.
Proposed Schemes of PHE Department : The PHE
Department has prepared estimates for the following (a) Water Supply and (b)
Sanitation schemes, some of them can be posed under National Urban Renewal
Mission, now under approval. For Kishanganj iron removal, one time ACA of Rs.40
lakh could be considered to provide immediate relief to the urban population.
This scheme was formulated in year 2003-2004. The cost may be different now.
|
Sl. No.
|
Name of
the Scheme
|
Estimated
Cost (Rs. crore)
|
|
|
Water
Supply
|
|
|
1.
|
Iron
removal facility for Kishanganj town
|
0.40
|
|
2.
|
Kishanganj
town water supply improvement
|
20.00
|
|
3.
|
Bahadurganj
Nagar Panchayat water supply
|
3.00
|
|
4.
|
Iron
removal plants in other areas
|
15.75
|
|
|
Sanitation
|
|
|
5.
|
Drainage,
sewerage in Kishanganj town
|
25.00
|
|
6.
|
Drainage
sewerage in Bahadurganj and Thakurganj
|
15.00
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
79.15
|
What can be done for the drinking
water problem in the district?
Iron in water
can be determined by atomic absorption spectrometry (detection limit 1
µg/litre) or by colorimetric methods (detection limit 5 µg/litre). Water
samples from different areas/villages of the district can be sent to the
concerned department for testing whether it is fit for drinking or not?
Establishment of Iron Removal Plants: These should be established on
immediate basis in different part of the district, from where residents can
fetch water for drinking purpose. Health
is remaining a major issue in the district where common lose their hard earned
money in getting treatment and lack of proper medical facilities increase their
problems many fold. Unfortunately no one has raised such issues in public
meetings or with the concerned authorities; we only shout even our so called
leaders’ shout and make tall promises during elections. Think twice before you
vote and make accountable the elected representatives, district authorities,
state govt. etc for such work to be done.
- Stay with me, I will bring many such problems associated with Kishanganj in the coming days, In sha Allah.
Dr. Mumtaz Naiyer
Southampton, United Kingdom.
