Faecal contamination of drinking water in Palakkad district is reaching alarming levels, a study by the Mundur-based Integrated Rural Technology Centre (IRTC) says. The rise in temperature is yet to seriously affect water availability, the study, proposed by the Kerala Sasthra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP), says.
IRTC’s water analyst B.M. Musthafa told The Hindu that faecal coliform count was found to be 14,000 colonies per 100 ml water in most of the rivers in the district. In the case of open wells, the count was beyond 1,100 while the permissible limit was 10.
Prof. Musthafa said 50 per cent of open wells in the district had contaminated water. The situation was turning bad in areas such as Palakkad town, Nenmara, Kollangode, Chittur, and Pattambi.
Testing facility
Over 41 per cent of urban households and 60 per cent of rural households in the district got contaminated water. IRTC’s water testing centre was an ‘approved facility’ of the Kerala State Pollution Control Board. But adjoining Thrissur, Malappuram, and Kozhikode districts had no such facility, Prof. Musthafa said.
Mr. Musthafa said the centre tested at least 100 samples of water drawn from open wells and bore wells every month. In dry eastern portions of the district such as Chittur, Kozhinjampara, and Eruthempathy, faecal contamination was high even in the case of bore wells. The water in the Malampuzha reservoir was relatively safe, he said adding that people should drink water only after purification and boiling.
“Though the rainy season was shorter last year and the summer acute this year, water availability has not been affected in Palakkad. But the quality is indeed a matter of concern,” he said.
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