The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Bholakpur: probe nails officials

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Friday, May 15, 2009
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Bholakpur: probe nails officials

Marri Ramu

‘Water samples not collected’

HYDERABAD: Drinking water samples were not collected from Bholakpur in Musheerabad by the Hyderabad Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board for the past five months, the investigators reportedly found.

The contamination of drinking water leading to diarrhoea and other infectious diseases left hundreds of residents sick and 12 others dead in Bholakpur, prompting the government to register a criminal case.

The police, who relied on the job chart of the Board employees to fix up responsibility, found that the Junior Technical Officer concerned had not gathered water samples from the internal localities of Bholakpur as per procedure.

Sources said the concerned officer, however, collected samples from Musheerabad and Kavadiguda areas surrounding Bholakpur. The investigators are yet to ascertain if this was an oversight by the JTO or done deliberately. They are also studying the parameters and standards adopted by the Board to collect samples from a particular area.

The responsibility of the Deputy General Manager of Quality Assurance and Testing is also being probed since the officer was supposed to oversee the sample collection process. Why the Dy.G.M. did not ensure that the collection of sample covered all localities equally to the extent possible is another question raised by the police.

The exact number of employees of the Board who could land in trouble in the backdrop of the criminal case is not yet known. But surely, official sources indicate, they would include the employees of the rank of JTO to Dy.G.M. to General Manager.

The Institute of Preventive Medicine, it was found, had been regularly sending reports about the possible contamination of water to the Board. The General Manager concerned too promptly forwarded the reports to the respective area managers to take appropriate action.

The job chart of the Board employees states that it is the bounden duty of the officer not only to ask his subordinates to act on the reports, but also follow up and find out what action was taken subsequently. Investigation revealed that no such monitoring was done by the higher-ups aggravating the situation in Bholakpur.

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Andhra Pradesh