The potable water in many public places in Howrah is “not fit for human consumption”, the civic authorities told the high court on Thursday.

A week ago, the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) had conveyed similar findings to the court.

The Howrah Municipal Corporation’s report stated that water samples collected from 83 of the 159 spots were found “unfit for human consumption”.

The samples were collected from Howrah State General Hospital, Collectorate Building, the residences of the district and additional district magistrates, Shibpur Policeline, Howrah police station and various educational institutions.

Last week, the CMC had placed a report stating that samples collected from various state hospitals, educational institutions and civic headquarters on SN Banerjee Road were found contaminated with harmful bacteria and were “unfit for consumption”.

The case relating to the potable water of Calcutta and Howrah will come up for hearing on Friday, when the court will deliver its order.

Earlier, in response to a petition moved by environment activist Subhash Dutta, the court had asked both the Howrah and Calcutta municipal corporations to file a report on the water supplied to various public places.

During the hearing, the CMC had claimed that it was supplying pure water, which was getting contaminated because of a lack of proper storage facilities.

For Howrah, the court had sought the public health engineering department’s opinion. The department suggested that the civic body collect water samples from various places and test them.