The Federation Of Khasi Jayantia And Garo People (FKJGP) has challenged ministers and senior government officials to drink unfiltered water supplied by the PHE Department, which the PHE Minister, Marcuise N Marak, claims is safe to consume.

Despite test results indicating that water in 44 out of 46 city communities is unfit for human consumption, the PHE Minister revoked these findings, as per reports.

In a statement, FKJGP President Dundee C Khongsit stated that officials should consume PHE-supplied water without filtration, highlighting that many low-income families cannot afford water filtration systems like those in the Secretariat.

Dundee further acknowledged that the PHE Minister would likely defend his department.

Meanwhile, the FKJGP collected water samples as part of the State Food Testing Laboratory’s Standard Operation Procedure in response to local complaints.

“We did not gather the water samples at random as claimed by the minister,” Dundee stated.

He added that the test sample report was provided to Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, Health Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh, and the PHE Minister. Khongsit expressed confidence that the PHE Minister was aware of the collected samples’ safety status.

Furthermore, he called for the release of test results for water samples from the Mawphlang Treatment Plant.