Bhubaneswar: Comtroller and General Auditor (CAG) have attacked in state housing and urban development department on water quality management in urban areas of the country.
In his report on the public and social sector for the year ended March 2020 and submitted in the Assembly on Friday, CAG said the achievement of 100% water quality in 2016-17 as expected in water-2013 policy remained unfulfilled.
It shows non-creation of infrastructure and human resources even after six years framing policies.
The report said that the Urban Odisha Water Quality Monitoring Protocol – 2015 imagined a three-level laboratory framework at the state level and the Basic Division and Laboratory at a water treatment plant (WTPS) or waste water treatment plant level.
Against the target of 115 water testing laboratories (WTL) which will be regulated at a different level, only 22 WTL, which is 19%, is located until March 2019, the auditor said.
The report states that the amount of WTL inadequate affects the overall result of providing quality drinking water in urban areas.
While CAG tested 14 water treatment plants, he said only three had water testing facilities in a while only one laboratory in Sunabeda, which did all the tests determined by the 12 parameters needed.
It stated that the state-level laboratory was established for a quality monitoring of 1,782 production wells, 80 surface sources and 10,130 hand pump tube wells spread across all 19 divisions, the audit said quality alertness was only limited to 10 divisions.
Also, testing of all specified parameters is not done because of the noonity of the equipment.
CAG also shows that no state water testing laboratories have obtained accreditation of the National Accreditation Board and International Organization for Standardization.
In addition, the procurement of equipment is carried out without making provisions for chemical reagents and staff for operations that cause transfer of equipment and analysis affected by drinking water quality.