Coronavirus Outbreak: Centre advises states to ensure adequate safe drinking water supply during lockdown

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) has issued an advisory to states to ensure that safe potable water is available to citizens during the coronavirus lockdown, particularly in the rural areas where the facility of medical sanitisers may not be available. The ministry stated that frequent washing of hands with frothing soaps is recognised as the most efficient and effective measure in the listed prevent measures for restricting the spread of novel coronavirus. [caption id=“attachment_4254585” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A worker seals bottles of drinking water inside a bottled water industry on the outskirts of Ahmedabad. Reuters[/caption] MOHFW has asked public health engineering departments/boards of the state government to increase supply in the areas where potable water may be deficient. It also urged for special emphasis be given to vulnerable sections of society, including relief camps, places of quarantine, hospitals, old age homes, poor strata of society and slums. “It will be appropriate to integrate the identified needs of potable water in the micro-plans of the districts being formulated to combat the spread of COVID-19 disease,” the ministry said. States have been told to use appropriate purifying chemicals such as chlorine tablets, bleaching powder, sodium hypochlorite solution and alum for enhancing the safety of potable water. “The purifying chemicals are among the essential commodities and therefore it may be ensured that these are part of the running supply chain,” the advisory said. MOHFW has told states to make arrangements for the round-the-clock vigil on the functionality of water supply systems from source to delivery points. The ministry noted that it may be possible that the demand for potable water during the lockdown period may increase. If people have to fetch water from the public stand post, supply hours may be required to be increased to ensure social distancing, the advisory added.