The first State Level Laboratory under the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department was inaugurated at Mawiongrim yesterday.
The laboratory is National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) accredited as per the standard ISO/IEC 17025:2017.
PHE Minister, Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar appreciated the department for having achieved the milestone and highlighted that it would be a step forward towards ensuring quality of water as access to clean drinking water is one of the key determinants of public health.
Chief Secretary Rebecca V Suchiang emphasized on the need in bringing about partnership with all stakeholders as addressing water quality issues is a shared responsibility to help bring about improvement in public health and socio-economic well-being of all.
Additional Chief Secretary D.P. Wahlang spoke on the need to prioritize water quality in the implementation of JJM and also gave a glimpse on the progress of JJM in the State. He said the state has come a long way in taking the mission forward in terms of providing functional household tap connections to every rural household in the State.
Other present at the function are Syed Md A. Razi, Commissioner & Secretary, PHED who is also the Mission Director of Jal Jeevan Mission along with Ripnar Lyngdoh, Commissioner & Secretary, Personnel and AR Department, Chief Engineer of the PHE Department, C.R. Challam, Additional Chief Engineer & State Nodal Officer for Jal Jeevan Mission Meghalaya, B.M Lyndem and other officials.
