KOHIMA— Irresponsible actions, lack of civic sense and improper waste disposal are responsible for serious problems such as flooding and spread of waterborne diseases, said an official from the Health and Family Welfare.
Drawing attention to the lack of civic sense among the citizens, Dr. Temsu Longchar told Eastern Mirror that water supply chain is contaminated because of the ‘common’ habit of discharging human wastes (faeces) whenever it rains.
“Our waterways are getting polluted. It is our creation; we have blocked all nullahs,” lamented Longchar.
He said that water sourced from ring well or bore well are getting contaminated and mixed with sewages.
Explaining the consequences of dirty water and sewage getting into the water supply chain, he said scores of patients come to the hospitals with complaints of diarrhoea, typhoid and other viral waterborne diseases after drinking such polluted water.
“All these dirty water and sewages are practically contaminating our water,” he said.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]Meanwhile, a citizen informed that a family in Potterlane colony, Kohima, was discharging human wastes into a nullah, causing much inconvenience to their neighbours.
It was learnt that the family would make children collect faeces in buckets and discharge it into the nullah.
Iterating that most people don’t get 24-hour water supply, the doctor said that even if some people get water once or twice a week from the Public Health Engineering department (PHED), such water sources are not treated.
“There is even contamination of water pipeline through negative pressure while water is seeping out,” he said.
“Since the water is not treated, that is another problem of contamination,” he said, adding: “Unless we have pure water in the state, we will have problems.”
Apprising how they have been advising people to boil the water, which is the cheapest and easiest method to kill germs or bacteria, Longchar said the safest water could be through rain harvesting, provided it does not contain acid.
The doctor also highlighted how flooding is wrecking havoc in Dimapur due to poor drainage system as people have started to claim ownership even over nullahs and converting them into houses, thereby hampering the passage of watercourses.
“Nagas have become owners of even nullahs….people are selling nullahs as part of their land; what will we tell more about Nagaland?” he asked.
[bsa_pro_ad_space id=1]While houses are inundated and streets waterlogged following heavy showers in Dimapur, the doctor narrated how they used to go out for fishing in pond-like water bodies in and around Dimapur, when they were kids.
“Now, everywhere has been transformed into colonies, thereby affecting the waterways,” he said while pointed out that nullahs in colonies like Khermahal, Dhobinala and Lengrijan have been converted into buildings.
Even the river belt along Nagaland-Assam border has become narrower due to such activities, he said.
He also pointed out that another reason for clogging of drains is due to throwing of wastes into drains and nullahs by food vendors.