Murky waters
Safe or unsafe, that is the question. Chief Minister of Sindh Arbab Ghulam Rahim has ordered the Dadu District Coordination Officer (DCO) to reinvestigate the contaminated waters of the Manchar Lake (see Down To Earth, August 31, 2004). A special team constituted for the purpose, is scheduled to visit different parts of the lake, take water samples and submit its report to the chief minister. The DCO claimed that the water is not dangerous for human life because laboratory tests found it fit for consumption. He however said that the team would again collect water samples and tests would decide whether the lake water should be released into the River Indus or not. However, the Jhangara Union Council Nazim holds that the lake is contaminated and the fisherfolk of the area complain that the contaminated waters are responsible for the cases of gastroenteritis, tuberculosis and hepatitis-B.