Delhi CM asks people not to panic over 'superbug'

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Monday appealed to people in the city not to panic in the wake of reports that a drug resistant bacteria had been found in Delhi's public water supply. The Delhi Jal Board had rejected the findings of international scientific journal Lancet, she said.

"The 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 while 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 the 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, state Health Minister A K Walia said the report by the international medical journal is not based on any epidemiological or clinical evidence.

A report by Muncipal Corporation of Delhi's Public Health department had in March 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 rejected the MCD report also. The DJB supplies around 850 MGD (million gallon per day) of water across the city.