MITIGATING DRINKING WATER-INDUCED MORBIDITY: EXAMINING THE ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT CLEAN DRINKING WATER PLANTS’ PROJECT IN LAHORE

Abstract

Access to safe drinking water is critical to human health. According to Millennium Development Goal (MDGs), access to clean drinking water is the basic human right. It is stylized fact that impaired quality drinking water is fatal to human health. Therefore, federal and regional institutions in Pakistan are trying to ensure availability of clean drinking water. In this regard, Local Government and Community Development Department (LG & CD) installed drinking water filtration plants at various locations in Lahore in order to provide clean drinking water to public. This study examines the role of drinking water filtration plants installed by the local government of Lahore to prevent waterborne diseases. Moreover, this study compares the morbidity levels and their consequent effects on the socioeconomic factors such as income, health expenditures and work performance of the target household in different areas of Lahore using with (treatment Group) and without filtration plants (control group) approach. In this regard, primary data from 300 households was collected from various locations of Lahore using multistage sampling technique. Differences in treatment and control group were analyzed using descriptive frequency distribution, averages and percentages of the target variables while extent of relationship between water borne diseases and income losses, expenditure on health and loss of working days was quantified through regression model using dummy variable technique. The results of the study exhibit that the people drinking filtration plants water become less victim of waterborne illness. Moreover, it is observed that people belonging to filtration plants’ areas are less vulnerable to waterborne diseases and, consequently, expenditure on health of households reduce. This reduction in waterborne illness results in reducing absenteeism from school and workplaces.