JAMMU: Even after large number of students studying in a government run school in Akhnoor area fell ill after consuming contaminated water from a water tank, the State Government is yet to ask the school principals to conduct fresh audit of quality of water consumed by these students.
For senior officers of the School Education Department ensuring quality of drinking water supply figures low on the list of priorities.
It has been seen none of the staff members deem it fit to drink water available in the school premises and carry their own water bottles. Ironically, the same teachers allow the students to drink the same water without ensuring regular cleaning of tanks at marginal cost.
Unlike private educational institutions, where majority of schools have installed filtration plants or water purifiers to ensure safe drinking water, the government run school buildings have not been provided with these facilities due to lack of funds.
In some of the schools,, located in remote areas and where water pipes are not installed, the water is supplied through water tanks which further raises the question marks on the quality of drinking water supplied in these school premises. From time to time parents have been lodging complaints highlighting the issues of basic amenities available in the school premises to their children.
Instead of taking note of these grievances, the school authorities in the past have been pushing these complaints under the carpet.
On the other hand, the PHE Department, responsible for providing drinking water to these schools, has not lifted water samples to check its quality.
In majority of schools water is stored in cemented water tanks and very few have switched over to new age water storage tanks.
A random survey by the STATE TIMES across large number of schools revealed the water tanks remain uncovered and the area near the water point remain unclean due to poor maintenance inside the school premises.
The school authorities also take little care of the water reservoirs by not carrying out frequent cleaning to ensure good quality of water.
