Water testing facilities in state falls short as Encephalitis spreads

Malappuram: The lack of adequate facilities for testing water quality continues to be a major hurdle in preventive health efforts, even as water-borne diseases such as encephalitis spread across the State.

The Kerala Water Authority currently operates 83 testing laboratories at district and sub-district levels. However, none of them is equipped to detect bacteria responsible for potentially fatal illnesses such as encephalitis and hepatitis.

At present, only the Food Safety Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram has the necessary facility, and test results take two days to be processed. For samples sent from northern districts like Malappuram, the wait is often twice as long.

Although all Water Authority laboratories are accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL), the absence of modern testing facilities renders them of limited use during emergencies. Experts have long called for such facilities to be made available at least in district-level laboratories, since diseases like encephalitis are reported every year.

A project to strengthen the Water Authority’s laboratories had been proposed earlier, but the government shelved the plan, citing financial constraints. Similarly, while there had been a recommendation to create 68 permanent posts of microbiologists to oversee water quality testing, only one permanent microbiologist is currently posted in the districts. Although the PSC rank list for microbiologists remains active, just 11 appointments have been made so far.

In the wake of recent cases of encephalitis and other water-borne diseases, the government has ordered chlorination of water sources. However, health experts stress the urgent need for regular water quality testing, which would be possible only by upgrading the Water Authority’s laboratories.