Cooperage to Bandra: Sewage in tap water

Vimala Shetty, Annie Rodrigues and Ramalaxmi Shah all live in the same building in Khernagar, Bandra (East). But they have more in common than just their address. All three women are suffering from gastroentitis caused by contaminated water.

Several parts of the city have been affected by contamination in the water supply. Residents of Tanthavati and Ekta cooperative housing societies in Khernagar have said that  over the past 10 days, the water supplied by the BMC has contained sediments of faeces. Some believe the contamination may be a result of illegal water line connections and some of the existing water pipelines being old and corroded.

Last week, similar complaints came in from Marine Drive, Cooperage, Nariman Point and Churchgate and now, the water in parts of Bandra (East), Vile Parle (West), Vidyavihar and Worli has sewage in it. Water samples have been submitted to the ward offices.

“More than 30 buildings in Khernagar have been receiving dirty water,” said Kashinath Naik, who lives in the area. Vikas Bhagat, who lives in Ektanagar co-operative housing society, said letters have been sent to the ward office, water department and the municipal commissioner’s office, but these have had no impact.

Kamlesh Kapasi, an activist in Vidyavihar, said the ward office has offered only stop-gap arrangements. In Worli, Shiv Sena corporator Kishori Pednekar, presented bottles of dirty water to the ward office. “How can civic authorities have such a laidback attitude towards water issue even after repeated complaints?” she asked.