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Health Department,Water Authority need to work together
KOCHI
Two important bodies,the Health Department and the Kerala Water Authority,that need to work together to keep vigil over public health, are at loggerheads, with one blaming the other for not doing its part,according to reports.
Government officials always try to keep their position safe, said a senior official in the KWA. Whenever there is an outbreak of a disease such as typhoid or diarrhoea, water supply is blamed for contamination, he said. There have been a number of cases when stored water was contaminated. Health Department officials maintain that most of the water-borne diseases can be checked if there is 24-hour water supply through the pipes. However, officials in the Kerala Water Authority believe that problems in water supply are not the only cause of diseases.
According to an official, if piped water is the sole cause of disease, all those who are not getting piped water should be disease-free. Water supply may not be satisfactory to meet the city’s demands, but the water supply is not faulty or contaminated to cause diseases, said the official. With two more projects sanctioned for the city, the KWA may be able to meet the demands of the growing city, the official said.
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