TimesView Maintenance of public health is a primary task of civic agencies. It includes providing safe drinking water. Extra or low chlorination in water could be harmful for health in the long run. Senior officials should take cognisance of the matter and get the machine repaired or replaced at the earliest. They should also come up with a contingency plan for such issues. LUCKNOW: Lucknow Jal Sansthan (LJS) is risking hundreds of lives across the city by not using the required equipment for chlorination of water supply and adding the chemical arbitrarily on the basis of random assessments. The oversight can hamper the health of 3.7 lakh persons living across localities like Rajajipuram, Thakurganj, Chaupatiya, Cambell Road and Balaganj. The main drawback of a random assessment of impurities is that it can lead to the addition of more chlorine than the prescribed limit.TOI visited the Gaughatbased water works unit of Jal Sanathan on Friday and found that equipment used for purifying water had been lying defunct since the last two months. Jal Sansthan’s Gaughat unit pumps over 150 million litre of water per day.“Chlorination is a crucial step in purifying the water. The equipment used for the process has an inbuilt sensor, which gauges the extent of impurity and then releases the required quantity of chlorine into the water,” said a LJS official, preferring anonymity.The official said process of manually adding the chlorine is too risky. “Releasing a quantity more or less than the prescribed limit is not in the interest of human health,” he added. Public health expert from the UP health department, SK Saxena, said, “Ideally, 0.2 to 0.4 microgram of chlorine is recommended for each litre of water to get rid of disease-causing virus and bacteria.”“An amount lower than the prescribed measure will not kill the microbes, which will leave water stale and may cause stomach upset. On the other hand, exceeding the prescribed limit may lead to rashes on skin and redness of eyes,” Saxena said.Medical research also shows that excessive exposure to chlorine may lead to gastrocancers. “If one has any doubts about the quality of water, it is best to boil the water before drinking,” he added. Employees at Jal Sansthan’s Gaughat unit said that it was not the first time that the machine had broke down. “In the past one year, the machine has conked twice. Though the machine is covered by an annual maintenance contract, engineers were not able to identify the problem,” said a worker of the unit. General manager of LJM, SK Verma, said, “Our engineers could not detect the source of the problem. We have called technicians from Kanpur and they will repair the equipment within two days.”

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