Bhubaneswar, Feb. 13: Cutting across party affiliations, members in the Assembly today expressed concern over the supply of drinking water without proper quality test, as prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards and the Central Public Health Engineering Organisation.

While the Bureau of Indian Standards has prescribed 68 parameters for water quality test, the Central Public Health Organisation has fixed 47 parameters.

Urban development minister Puspendra Singhdeo admitted that the water quality test is being conducted in the state public health laboratory. These parameters include turbidity, PH value, total dissolved solid, presence of chloride, sulphate, fluoride, nitrate, calcium, magnesium, iron, alkanity, residual chrone, coliform and e-coli.

However, drinking water is supplied to the all urban areas after testing only total turbidity, PH value and residual chlorine at the water purifying units, divisional laboratories or through mobile testing kits, he said.

The minister admitted that there was no facility at the state level public health laboratory for testing of heavy metals, toxic materials and radioactive radiation.

'Howdoes the government claim that safe drinking water without conduct of proper test?' asked Congress member Nabakishore Das.

In another development, health secretary Arti Ahuja visited Cuttack city today and directed the officials to extend free treatment to the jaundice patients. 'The situation is under control,' she said.