New Delhi: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit
on Monday appealed people in the city not to panic in the wake of
reports that drug resistant bacteria was found in Delhi's
public water supply and said water agency DJB had rejected the
findings of international scientific journal 'Lancet'.
"Delhi Jal Board has very categorically said that this
is not the case. I am in touch with the CEO and he said that
it is not so. So please don't spread panic when there is no
(need to) panic," Dikshit said replying to a question.
International medical journal 'Lancet' reported that
deadly superbug NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1)
producing bacteria were found in 51 out of 171 samples taken
from water pools and two out of 50 tap water samples in the
city.
The Delhi Jal Board has already dispelled concerns
following the report and said the water being supplied by the
agency was "safe" for drinking.
DJB CEO Ramesh Negi had said that the water supplied by
the agency conforms to the standards prescribed by Bureau of
Indian Standards.
One of the authors of the Lancet study Mark Toleman has
accused the government of "suppressing the truth" about the
presence of a drug-resistant bacteria in Delhi's public water
system by "threatening" and "abusing" its own scientists.
Asked about the Lancet report, Health Minister AK Walia
said the report by international medical journal is not based
on any epidemiological or clinical evidence.
A report by MCD's Public Health department had last
month said that 18 per cent of water supplied by the Delhi Jal
Board is unfit for drinking and every fifth person in the city
is consuming contaminated water.
Dikshit, who is chairperson of DJB had, earlier,
rejected the MCD report also. The DJB which supplies around
850 MGD (million gallon per day) of water across the city.
PTI
First Published: Monday, April 11, 2011, 21:32