A province level water test laboratory has been set up in Birendranagar in Karnali district. The lab will be operated under the Infrastructures Development Directorate of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructures and Urban Development at province.
It is the first water testing lab in Karnali. Earlier, there was compulsion to reach Nepalgunj to test water purity.
Chief of Infrastructure Development Directorate, Prabhakar Prasad Singh, informed that the laboratory was set up as per the approved annual programmes of the province government. The laboratory with huge capacity was set up at the cost of Rs 16 million. Although the new facility is under the ambit of Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, it is currently under the Physical Infrastructures and Urban Development Ministry for technical reason.
Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Urban Development, Ammar Bahadur Thapa, viewed the laboratory was established to ensure pure drinking water to people. It was priority of province government. “The users deserve to know the quality of drinking water. However, they were bound to use unclean water for lack of testing earlier. Now, the lab in Surkhet also helps to identify and resolve problems relating to water-borne disease.
It is said the laboratory needs at least three human resources. For the chief of laboratory, a person with master’s degree in chemistry is required. Similarly, the posts of a drinking water lab technician and an assistant are also created for it. The Ministry informed that there would be required human resources on contract basis within two months.
