Sir,

Patna is facing a number of problems, but the major problem here is scarcity of water. Patna depends on the River Ganga and groundwater for drinking and other purposes.These both sources of water is highly polluted.

According to a report by New Delhi, Centre for Science and Environment the city needs about 215 million litres (MLD) of water per day, and it gets only 202 MLD.  THe report also stated that only 60 percent of the population is connected by the water supply system.

There are no water treatment alternatives in Patna, assuming that ‘Ganga Jal’ is pure and safe for drinking.

About 20 percent of people in Patna depend on stand posts while the rest have their own tube wells. In the (PMC) Patna Municipal Corporation area, water supply is provided only for six hours a day totalling 107 litres per person everyday.

The report also stated that Patna drinks its own sewage.

Here the condition of sewage network is very bad. Less than 10 per cent of the city’s population is connected to a sewage network; which means 90 per cent of the city’s waste is discharged into open drains and then into the river.

From the drains, the excreta also penetrates into the groundwater which is pumped up by the PMC and supplied to houses and we people use it for our daily needs.

The usage of polluted water is causing death and illness. Here diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases are common to people. Many people die because of these disease everyday.

These days Patna is getting overpopulated, new buildings are being made but the sewage problem is not being taken cared of. There are  sewage treatment plants in Patna, but they are not operating.

We Patna people need a better sewage network and an alternative of sewage treatment instead of grand sewage plant which is not operating. We should also try to save water for our better future.

Yours truly

Seema Kumari, BMC 3^rd year, St. Xavier’s College of Management and Technology, Digha, Patna

  letter to the editor, letters