Shillong, Oct 31: Meghalaya Minister in-charge Public Health Engineering (PHE) Marcuise N Marak on Tuesday said his department is supplying potable drinking water to the citizens of the state. According to him, the department is also in the process of pursuing with the Government for handing over the responsibility to the department for distribution of water supply in the state.

“We are working it out and we are proposing this (handing over distribution of water supply) from the PHE department but we are still in the process of pursuing it…,” Marak told reporters.

Stating this would be the perfect solution to ensure quality of water being supplied to citizens, the minister said, “(As of now) distribution part is being done by the municipal board, which is, they don’t have the trouble of thinking how to get the water from far… therefore, if the water supply distribution can also be given to the PHE department that would have been a perfect solution.”

His statement also came as a reaction to a recent report that water collected and tested from 44 localities in Shillong has been declared as ‘unsafe’ as per Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) standards.

The report of the State Food Testing Laboratory Commissionerate of Food Safety, Pasteur Hills, Shillong was submitted by the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People (FKJGP) to the Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on October 3, for his immediate intervention and necessary action.

To a question, Marak said, “My chief engineer has already given a rejoinder on this matter. However, I would like to state that every day the PHE department, before supplying water to Shillong city, we are testing in the Mawphlang treatment plant. So, we draw the water from Umiew river, we get it treated there in the Mawphlang treatment plant and from there, we bring the water to six and a half mile. There is a tank and from there in the 4th mile, there is again another tank from that tank we distribute the water to the municipal tanks and other tanks in the city. So basically, the water being supplied from the PHE department is clean and ready to drink, potable drinking water.”

He further said he doesn’t know the veracity of the water samples collected by the FKJGP and where they have got them tested. “However, for the satisfaction of the people, we are giving potable drinking water to the people of Shillong and if any of the PHE tanks are found contaminated or not fit to drink, that we are looking into it. But, so far, the water we are supplying is very much safe to drink,” he assured.

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