THE news that over 400 Dhaka University resident students are sick with jaundice and that one has succumbed to the illness is extremely worrisome. Indeed there have been reports of outbreaks in other parts of the city as well, and we fervendy hope that the afflictions at the DU hostels are not merely the tip of the ice-berg. The lesson to be learned from this sudden and shocking incidence of jaundice is that water sanitation is likely not as good as it should be and that the authorities must take concrete steps to ensure that clean water is available to city residents before a water-borne epidemic breaks out.

It is still unclear as to what is behind the mass outbreak at DU. However, jaundice is a water-borne disease and the quality of water in the university dorms and hostels has long been suspect, leading to the almost inescapable conclusion that the 400 plus cases of jaundice can be traced to this cause.

In fact, it is not only in the dorms and hostels, all over the city water safety is not what it should be. There have been reports in the past of leakage from storm sewage pipes and cracks in pipes supposedly carrying potable water to neighbourhoods that have led to the city's water supply being of below-standard quality.

This latest incident leads us to bring up the fundamental question of the quality of the water that Wasa supplies to Dhaka city. In light of previous dark revelations and the gravity of the current situation at DU, the time has come for Wasa to conduct a top to bottom investigation of the overall quality of the city' s water supply.

The first thing is to determine what the status of the water supply is. It is not apparent to us that Wasa even has up-to-date and comprehensive information as to the city's water quality. The second thing is to inform the public as to the state of the water supply on a locality by locality basis.

Safe drinking water is a fundamental right and in a modern capital city of over 10 million it is absolutely imperative that no expense be spared to ensure that uncontaminated water is available to all. At the very least, Wasa should make the information about the safety of the water it supplies public so that the unsuspecting inhabitants of the city are aware of any potential danger to their health and can take protective action.