New Delhi, Apr 12: Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today said her government has not “ignored” reports about the presence of a drug-resistant superbug in the capital's public water supply but insisted that it is totally safe.
“We are not ignoring the reports. We are collecting our own reports...The water being supplied by DJB is totally safe,” 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.
Sources said Dikshit has asked the Delhi Jal Board to regularly lift water samples from various areas of the city and test it at designated laboratories. The DJB has already dispelled concerns following the report and said the water being supplied by the agency was “safe” for drinking.
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.
A report by MCD's Public Health department had last month said that 18 per cent of water supplied by the DJB is unfit for drinking and every fifth person in the city is consuming contaminated water. PTI
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