PHE Minister Marcuise N Marak has claimed that water supplied to residents of the city is clean and safe for drinking as it gets tested every day.
His statement came after the State Food Testing Laboratory Commissionerate of Food Safety has found water samples in 44 out of 46 localities in the city unsafe and not as per FSSAI standards.
The samples of water were collected by the Federation of Khasi Jaiñtia and Garo People (FKJGP) and as per the findings, the water supplied to contain Coliform and E. coli organisms with low pH value, high turbidity, and iron content above the prescribed limit.
Marak however was unsure about the samples collected and said, “The water which was brought by FKJGP leaders and was tested somewhere…I don’t know the veracity of the collection of the water samples from where they have collected.”
According to the Minister, drinking water that is drawn from the Umiew River to the tank at 6 1/2 mile gets treated at Mawphlang before distribution.
He maintained that the water is potable and added, “If any of the PHE tanks are found contaminated then we will look into it, but so far the water is safe to drink.”
The Shillong Municipal Board and the Public Health Engineering Department are responsible for distributing piped water in the localities.