As a firm commitment of the Punjab government as part to provide 100 percent piped potable water supply to residents of the state, the Water Supply & Sanitation Department, Punjab today dedicated the newly strengthened Multi District Water Testing Laboratory here at Water Works Complex, Phase II. Principal Secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation Jaspreet Talwar inaugurated the laboratory on the behalf of Water Supply & Sanitation Minister Razia Sultana.In a message, the Water Supply & Sanitation Minister Razia Sultana said that this was the gift of Punjab government led by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh to the people under the ‘Har Ghar Pani, Har Ghar Safai’ mission which aims to ensure 100 percent piped potable water supply by March 2022. She said that the initiative would supplement the determination of state government to provide adequate facilities for testing and monitoring of drinking water being provided to rural population of Punjab. Mrs. Sultana said that this laboratory has been equipped with latest instruments like Ultra Violet (UV) – Visible Spectrophotometer, Ion Meter, BOD Incubator, COD Digester, Turbidity meter and others to test 18 chemical parameters of drinking water.The Minister said that in addition to the routine monitoring and surveillance of departmental rural water supply sources, the laboratory would also be open to public and other departments / institutions at nominal charges approved by government.
She said that this Laboratory would primarily cater to needs of SAS Nagar, Rupnagar and SBS Nagar districts. Mrs. Sultana further said that the Department of Water Supply and Sanitation had planned to establish a three tier network of Water Testing Laboratories comprising of one state lab at SAS Nagar, six multi district Water Testing Labs and 24 Sub Unit Labs at block level.Principal Secretary Jaspreet Talwar disclosed that department has already set up High-tech Multi District Laboratory at Amritsar and strengthened state Lab SAS Nagar and Multi District Lab Patiala whereas three Multi District Laboratories at Moga, Hoshiarpur and Sangrur would be commissioned by May 2021. She said that the vision of the department was to build a comprehensive network of Water Testing Laboratories, so that water testing facilities were accessible and within reach of common man. Mrs. Sultana said that department has also decided to get all these laboratories accredited from NABL so as to build confidence in people regarding accuracy of testing being conducted in government labs.She said that amongst these laboratories, state Lab SAS Nagar and High-tech Multi District Labs at Patiala were already NABL accredited whereas remaining five Multi District labs would get accredited by June 2021. She said that further 24 Sub Unit Labs would also be strengthened for 11 basic parameters by June 2021 and targeted to be NABL accredited by 15th August 2021. She said that in order to provide good quality laboratory network, Department has got approved the senior posts of Chief Chemist/ Senior Chemist/ Microbiologist/ Chemist from the Government in last restructuring of the Department.It is pertinent to mention that accordingly highly qualified staff has been recruited to manage these laboratories. Principal Secretary, Water Supply and Sanitation Jaspreet Talwar also handed over 16 appointment letters to the selected candidates including three senior chemists, six microbiologists and seven chemists for proper functioning of the State Water Testing Laboratory and six Multi District laboratories.On this occasion, HoD Water Supply and Sanitation Amit Talwar and other officers were also present.