People in the Sylhet city are contracting different waterborne diseases as the hotels and restaurants are serving their consumers drinking water contaminated
with coliform bacteria, an organism injurious to human health.
A survey conducted by the divisional environment department found the highest 1000 coliform bacteria in 100 millilitre drinking water served to the consumers at the hotels and restaurants in the city.
The existence of a single of such organisms in the same amount of drinking water can be a serious threat to the public health, experts have said.
The Sylhet district civil surgeon Kamrul Islam has told New Age that people are contracting various kinds of diseases like jaundice, dysentery, diarrhoea, stomach-ache and aversion to food by taking water containing the coliform bacteria.
‘Water containing coliform bacteria should not be taken until the water is purified by boiling or using water-purifying medicine. Because, the bacteria can cause serious illness,’ he added.
But, neither the Sylhet City Corporation nor the hotel and restaurant owners have shown any concern so far over the matter.
Most of the city hotels and restaurants, except a few posh ones, have been offering their customers drinking water directly collected from the pipeline of the city corporation, the survey report said.
The district Hotel Restaurant Owners’ Association general secretary, Jewel Ahmed, however, blamed the city corporation for supply them with unhygienic water.
‘The water used in the city hotels and restaurants is supplied by the city corporation in exchange of service cost. So, the authorities should take measure over the issue,’ he said.
As par the survey report, 42 samples of drinking water of hotels and restaurants, located at different places in the city, were collected for test in the first quarter of this year.
After completing the test at the Sylhet environment department laboratory, the presence of highest 1,000 colifom bacteria and the lowest 100 bacteria was detected in the samples, the report said.
Several Chinese restaurants were among the institutions from which the samples were collected, in accordance with the information available in the report.
Talking to New Age, the Sylhet environment department assistant director, Mihir Lal Sardar, said the test of the sample drinking water had not been launched earlier in Sylhet city. ‘We have begun the process and it will continue,’ he added.
The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute’s divisional deputy director, Rezaul Haque, said checking the quality of drinking water supplied by the city corporation did not fall within the purview of their activities.
‘We supervise the commercial production of drinking water and its bottling process only,’ he added.
SCC chief health officer Sudhamoy Mazumdar said ensuring the supply of safe drinking water in the city was not possible for any single institution.
‘Concerted efforts of the local government, city corporation, environment department and BSTI is needed to achieve the goal,’ he said.
-With New Age input
