Water supplied in many parts of Agartala "unsafe", says test

The public water supplied in many parts of city here was found to be "unsafe" for human consumption, said a water sample test report.

The Department of Microbiology of Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) conducted tests on water samples collected from Shibnagar, Shantipara and Math Chowmuhani area of the city recently.

"We decided to collect samples and go for tests as patients from the area were hospitalised in large numbers in past few days with complaints of loose motion, vomiting, Associate Professor Tapan Majumder of the Department of Microbiology, of AGMC said on Thursday.

The test results revealed that all the samples were "very high risk" or "unsafe" for human consumption. All the samples were collected directly from public water supply pipeline, Majumder said.

He said "less than 10 Minimal Probability Number (MPN) of Escherichia coli bacteria is considered safe in drinking water. Our test has revealed over 100 MPN per 100 ml of water sample. This is very high risk or unsafe of human consumption."