New Delhi:
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit today appealed people in the city not to panic in the wake of reports that drug resistant bacteria was found in Delhi's public water supply and said water agency Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had rejected the findings of international scientific journal 'Lancet'.
"Delhi Jal Board has very categorically said that this is not the case. I am in touch with the CEO and he said that it is not so. So please don't spread panic when there is no (need to) panic," Dikshit said replying to a question.
International medical journal 'Lancet' reported that deadly superbug NDM-1 (New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase 1) producing bacteria were found in 51 out of 171 samples taken from water pools and two out of 50 tap water samples in the city.
The Delhi Jal Board has already dispelled concerns following the report and said the water being supplied by the agency was "safe" for drinking.
DJB CEO Ramesh Negi had said that the water supplied by the agency conforms to the standards prescribed by Bureau of Indian Standards.
One of the authors of the Lancet study Mark Toleman has accused the government of "suppressing the truth" about the presence of a drug-resistant bacteria in Delhi's public water system by "threatening" and "abusing" its own scientists.
Asked about the Lancet report, Health Minister A K Walia said the report by international medical journal is not based on any epidemiological or clinical evidence.
A report by MCD's Public Health department had last month said that 18 per cent of water supplied by the Delhi Jal Board is unfit for drinking and every fifth person in the city is consuming contaminated water.
Dikshit, who is chairperson of DJB had, earlier, rejected the MCD report also. The DJB supplies around 850 MGD (million gallon per day) of water across the city.