Drinking water at 145 government schools in Punjab’s Chiniot district has been found unsafe for students after laboratory testing. According to the District Research Laboratory, samples from 145 of 451 government schools checked across the district did not meet safety standards.
Which schools are affected
The unsafe samples came from campuses in different parts of Chiniot. Officials counted 36 high schools, 26 elementary schools and 83 primary schools among those that failed the checks. That spread means the problem is not limited to one school tier or one corner of the district.
Parents and school staff will want clarity on which campuses are on the list and what temporary arrangements, if any, are being made for drinking water until supplies meet the standard again. The laboratory figures do not, on their own, name individual schools or set out a fix timetable.
What the laboratory tested
District Research Officer (DRO) Irshad Ahmed said the tests looked at several water-quality indicators, including colour, taste, pH (how acidic or alkaline the water is) and Total Dissolved Solids, or TDS — a measure of dissolved salts and minerals in water.
He said TDS levels of up to 1,000 are generally considered acceptable, while samples from the affected schools recorded levels exceeding 2,000. In plain terms, the dissolved-solids reading at those sites was more than double the commonly cited comfort mark.
Health concerns for students
The findings have raised concerns about potential health risks for students who drink water at these schools during the day. The laboratory report focuses on failed safety standards and high TDS; it does not spell out specific illnesses or how long the problem has lasted.
What is clear from the district figures is scale: nearly one in three of the 451 government schools tested in Chiniot — 145 campuses — did not clear the drinking-water checks. High schools, elementary schools and primary schools are all represented in that total.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Chiniot ke 451 sarkari schoolon mein se 145 ke peene ke paani ke samples lab test mein fail ho gaye hain. In mein high, elementary aur primary schools shamil hain. Paani mein TDS 2,000 se zyada mila, jab ke 1,000 tak aam taur par theek maana jata hai. Bachon ke liye school ka paani abhi mehfuz nahi maana ja raha, is liye ghar walon ko is masle ka khayal rakhna chahiye.
