By IANS
Agra : A Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) team has found Agra’s drinking water unfit for human consumption, and is planning to fund a project to bring Ganga water to the city through a pipeline.
At a two-day interactive session between Uttar Pradesh officials and the JBIC, which is planning to fund an alternative Rs.12 billion Ganga Jal project, the Japanese team termed the quality of the Yamuna water “shocking” and declared it unfit for humans.
Under the proposed project, an alternative route to bring Ganga water directly through a pipeline to the city in being mooted.
The JBIC experts had collected water samples from more than a dozen sources in the city and after analysis found the pale yellow water, containing high levels of ammonia, chlorine and heavy concentration of coliforms, a primary reason for spread of water-borne diseases in the city.
The Agra conclave, which ended Saturday, was important to finding out a viable solution to the water scarcity, before a final decision on the ambitions Rs.12 billion project was taken.
The Japanese Bank officials were visibly disturbed about how the Agra water works authorities could supply this water to the city and claim it was safe for the population.
While politicians and various sections of the society are generally agreed that a long-term solution to the water needs of the city had to be taken, opinion is still divided on whether to go for a new pipeline from the Ganga or to source water from the Chambal river whose water was comparatively cleaner and easily accessible.
“Already the Chambal Lift Irrigation scheme is supplying water to the southern parts of the district. All you need to do is to extend the canal and perhaps install a couple of more pumps on the river,” said Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society.