Budgam, Aug 06: Peoples Democratic Front and former minister Hakeem Muhammad Yaseen has expressed serious concern over the laboratory reports that the poor quality drinking water was being supplied to the people in Riayaar Beerwah and other parts of Khansahib constituency which has caused an outbreak of jaundice disease in the area.
Quoting sources, Yaseen in a statement said that the drinking water supplied to the people in Riayaar and adjoining areas was unfit for human consumption which has become a cause of death of a child Abid Salam Khan of Raiyaar due to jaundice on Saturday.
“Many children in this village were either affected by jaundice or have other health issues because of the contaminated water supply,” Hakeem said. He urged the district administration to act swiftly and reactivate the concerned PHE and health authorities to control the further spread of the disease in the area.
He said the main cause of the spread of life-threatening jaundice was attributed to the supply of untreated and unfiltered drinking water.
While expressing grief and sorrow over the death of Abid Salam Khan due to jaundice, the PDF chairman has urged the engineers of PHE Budgam to arrange the supply of treated drinking water to the people in the area.
The former minister said the water supply network in most of the Kandi areas of Budgam district was outdated as the existing pipelines laid decades ago were rusted and broken. He said the need of the hour was to replace such pipelines under the Jal Jeevan Mission on an emergency basis.
“The main cause of most of the waterborne disease was consumption of untreated drinking water,” he said, adding that the government should utilize vast funds available under the JJM not only for expanding the water supply lines but also for the construction of water filtration plants wherever needed. “Only then could the objective of the ambitious JJM be achieved,” he said.
