Mumbai: Pockets in Western suburbs getting filthy water in taps

A few localities in the Western suburbs have been facing water contamination since the last many weeks and residents fear the recent heavy downpour may worsen the situation A large housing complex in Malad has been receiving filthy water The residents have been relying on bottled water after some children and elderly members fell sick Similar is the situation in Sahar village where locals are forced to drink bottled water and in both cases the corporation has failed to fix the issueContaminated filthy waterFor the last many weeks Bhoomi Park Complex a large housing complex with a population of over 4500 and its neighbourhood in Jankalyan Nagar Malad West have been getting contaminated water with an awful smell Even as the water samples collected on July 4 from the society were found to be unfit for portable purposes the local ward office has not been able to stop the contamination Chairman of Bhoomi Park Advance Locality Management ALM Prakash Aranha said ldquoThe situation has become grim with every passing day as approximately 50 people including some kids and elderly members have fallen sick due to the water contamination The residents have made numerous complaints to the local P North ward of BMC but they have failed to fix the issuerdquoBMC officials visited Bhoomi Park Complex in Malad West to collect water samplesEcoli in sampleGiving reference to his previous letter of June 19 regarding water contamination in P North ward local MLA Yogesh Sagar again wrote copy with this paper to assistant municipal commissioner Kiran Dighavkar on June 29 MLA Sagar had cited the test report of water drawn from pipeline supply to a nearby school which revealed the presence of E coli bacteria The MLA had claimed spurt in the incidence of fever diarrhoea nausea etc among all ages The affected areas include residential commercial and numerous schools and hospitals the MLA informed the BMCAccording to Aranha the local ward officials have been sending their team to detect the source of contamination though BMC claimed that some of the contamination has been fixed but the same was not officially communicated to the residents The BMC officials from the departments of water and health came to collect the water samples from our complex on July 4 Meanwhile the residents have been using chlorine tablets to disinfect the water Aranha ruled out the possibility of the source of the water contamination in the complex premises as there has been no water logging The storm water drains in the complex are clear and their Sewage Treatment Plant STP is completely separate from the main water pipelinesThe other sideDr Kalpesh Bhalerao Health Officer P North ward said ldquoMy team visited Bhoomi Park complex and found that the water sample collected was unfit for potable purposes We have already submitted our report to the water department for taking necessary action They will detect the source of contamination and will fix it The water will be tested again after the water department informs us of resolving the problemrdquoResidents of Meghibai Chawl Sahar village have been receiving contaminated water for the last few monthsDr Bhalerao said that they have received one more complaint of water contamination from a society close to Bhoomi Park on July 9 ldquoOur team will visit and collect water samples on Wednesday and we will conduct similar tests and accordingly intimate the water departmentrdquo said Dr Bhalerao He said that besides using chlorine tablets those receiving contaminated water may also boil the water for minimum twenty minutes which is the safest method to kill the bacteria When asked if boiling will also help to remove stench from the water Dr Bhalerao replied in the negative ldquoWater with foul smell should not be used for any potable purpose even after boilingrdquoAt Sahar villageMeghibai Chawl Sahar village with 300 to 350 houses and a population of over 2000 has been receiving contaminated water for the last few months Numerous complaints made to the local K East ward have fallen on deaf ears as the water department has failed to resolve the issueRamkrishna Ambekar 68 residing with his family of ten in Meghibai Chawl for the last four decades said ldquoIt happened suddenly the water in our taps turned muddy with a foul stench making it completely unfitrdquo Ambekar said they get the municipal water between 5 am to 8 am daily ldquoFor the two hours the water flowing from the taps will be contaminated while we get usable water for only one hourrdquo he said Ambekar said ldquoThose working have to leave early in the morning and it becomes difficult for us as at times the water is unfit for bathing or washing purposes With children and elderly members at home residents canrsquot take the risk of using contaminated water We have to rely heavily on bottled water which again impacts our monthly budgetrdquo He said even boiling the water doesnrsquot help to get rid of the stenchResidents threaten morchaRamesh Satam 69 said ldquoI have been staying in this chawl for over three decades and we never had such a problem ever before Our pleas are not taken seriously by the local ward officials who claim that they are unable to detect the source of our problem We are now contemplating to plan a morcha of our local residents to the ward office if they fail to fix the problem soonrdquoAMC K East Ward speaksManish Valunj assistant municipal commissioner of K East ward said ldquoWe have addressed their issue already last week our water department staff found a leak in the main water supply line to their area and we have fixed the issue The contamination has stoppedrdquoHowever when midday told Valunj that the residents were still receiving contaminated water he said that he will get in touch with the complainants and assured to get the same resolved at the earliestConduct doortodoor surveyAdvocate Godfrey Pimenta trustee of Watchdog Foundation has been approached by Aranha and even residents of Sahar seeking assistance he said ldquoThe current heavy monsoon spell in Mumbai is likely to bring additional challenges for Mumbaikars To mitigate these risks BMC should conduct doortodoor surveys to curb the spread of waterborne diseasesrdquo4500No of residents in Malad society getting bad water