KARACHI: As many as 40 per cent water samples collected from different parts of Karachi were not properly chlorinated, increasing chances of fatal diseases caused by Naegleria floweri, Daily Times has learnt. The brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, has already claimed three lives in the province since April, out of which two cases were confirmed within a week time in Karachi. “40 per cent of water samples collected from Gulshan-e-Iqbal, North Karachi and Orangi Town lacked proper chlorination,” Dr Zafar Mehdi, focal person for the Sindh Health Department’s Naegleria fowleri Monitoring Cell told Daily Times. He said the peak season of naegleria has already started which will continue till August. Naegleria is an amoeba (single-celled living organism) commonly found in warm freshwater (ponds, tanks, lakes, rivers, and hot springs) and soil. Only one species (type) of Naegleria infects people: Naegleria fowleri. Naegleria fowleri infects people when water containing the amoeba enters the body through the nose. This typically occurs when people go swimming or diving in warm freshwater places, like lakes and rivers. The Naegleria fowleri amoeba then travels up the nose to the brain where it destroys the brain tissue. To battle the growing threat of Naegleria Fowleri deaths, the Sindh Health Department constituted a committee to focus on preventive measures against the disease. The committee would order immediate chlorination of water whereas vulnerable areas would be given special attention. “So far the committee has covered less than 30 percent of the area and found that only 60 percent water samples had properly chlorinated,” Dr Mehdi informed. Dr Mehdi said despite the one death in Karachi so far due to deadly amoeba, situation improved as compare to recent years due to mass level awareness. Last week, monitoring committee sealed the swimming pool of the Airport Hotel for having no chlorine in the water and warned the owners of public swimming pools to add an adequate amount of chlorine to the water or be ready to face punitive action. According to Dr Mehdi, among the areas the Committee covered so far, the level of chlorination in Orangi Orange Town was unsatisfactory. But Dr Mehdi said the matter of short supply of chlorinated can also be linked with outdated water supply pipelines. “It is the responsibility of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to add proper chlorine in water before its supply to citizens but at same time water was also mixed with sewage due to leaking sewerage lines that run parallel to clean water lines in different localities. It adds chances of wastage of chlorination to the end-users no matter in what quantity the chlorine is being mixed.” On the other hand, KWSB has no functional system either to properly chlorinate drinking water or check the presence of major contaminants in it. In January this year, KWSB officials informed the commission, formed by the Supreme Court to conduct an inquiry into the state’s failure in providing clean drinking water, sanitation facilities and a healthy environment to the people of Sindh, that of the total 550MGD supplies from the Indus source to Karachi, 200MGD is supplied unfiltered owing to lack of capacity. Dr Mehdi told that KWSB should ensure proper chlorination of potable water at pumping station level however the citizens could use chlorine bleach. “Citizens can disinfect water using chlorine bleach but as most people did not know how to use it; therefore, water purification tablets and powders were best alternative to be used in water tanks of homes, offices, mosques, hospitals at individual and community levels.”