A CORRESPONDENT
BOKO: At a time when the Central Government is trying to provide pure drinking water to every household in the country, a major fault came to light after the locals of Boko area raised concern over the drinking water provided by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) that sometimes came with dirt and smelled bad.
It is worth mentioning that the PHED Boko Subdivision supplies water in the Boko area, including the Electricity office, PWD IB, many other government offices and nearby villages like 1 No. Dakuapara, 2 No. Dakuapara, and other villages. Anonymous villagers from 1 No. Dakuapara village alleged, "We are yet to get drinking water from JJM scheme. However the PHE Department supplies drinking water which smells like sewer water and it seems like the department provides us poison in the name of drinking water."
While visiting the PHED, Boko Sub-Division office campus found two water supply projects. However, both projects were dirty, covered with cellulites with dirty foam being seen. Regarding this matter, Pradip Kalita, Assistant Engineer of Boko PHE Subdivision, said that the Boko PWSS (Piped Water Supply Scheme) falls under the JJM and after completion of the scheme it was handed over to the PNRD department. Therefore the operation and maintenance of the new project activities therein automatically goes to respective WUC (Water Users' Committee) under the PNRD.
On the other hand, negligence by the PHE department came to light, when asked about the recent water quality reports of the two PWSS schemes situated in the office. Surprisingly, the Boko PHED subdivision has one laboratory to test water qualities. When asked about the reports of the two water supply schemes, Hitesh Talukdar, in-charge of the laboratory, clarified that they have no water quality reports either of the old water supply project or of the new project which was started from 2024. They tested the water around six months ago on 20 June, 2024. Talukdar emphasized that though the schemes are situated in the office, someone has to order them to make the water quality reports, after which they test the water.
Talukdar said that above the permissible limit (more than 1.5 mg/liter) fluoride was found at the 1 No. Dakuapara Village and therefore PHED Boko Subdivision supply the drinking water at that village. He also added that above the permissible limit (more than 1.5 mg/liter) fluoride was also found in Rajapara PWSS, Sakhati PWSS and Nijbogai PWSS.
Namal Deka, Secretary of the Boko PWSS's WU Committee, said that they have not received any complaint regarding the supplied water qualities. "Since there is the water supply scheme in the office campus, the office staff can also look at the water quality. There are staff quarters in the office premises and their families also drink the water," added Deka.
A section assistant of the Boko PHED office said that they have very less staff in their office. Therefore, it is very tough to check all the schemes. However, Jal Mitra was appointed to various PWS Schemes and they operate and maintain the schemes. On the other hand, Pradip Kalita, Assistant Engineer of the Boko PHED office, said that PHED only works with the major problems in the PWS Scheme and Water Users' Committees (WUC) solve the common problems of the PWS Schemes.
Also Read: Assam: Villagers raise concern over Boko PHED’s water quality
Also Watch: