Colaba, Churchgate, Mantralaya, Cuffe Parade, Bandra (West) – these are some of the most sought-after addresses in Mumbai, with real estate prices rising higher than the high-rises that constitute the city skyline. And yet, these areas do not even get that basic amenity of urban life – clean, potable water.
A report by the BMC’s hydraulic engineering department for the period April 2016-February 2017 reveals that many areas in the city continue to receive contaminated water, with the highest percentage of ‘unfit’ samples being collected from Colaba, Churchgate, Bandra West, Chembur, Kurla, Naigaon, Masjid Bunder and Mulund.
This is despite the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) – which releases about 3,700 million litres of ‘pure’ water from its Bhandup Centre daily – sanctioning Rs 1592.92 crore in its 2016-17 budget for water supply projects and hydraulic engineering for the period.
The BMC’s water control and health department randomly collected total 33,425 water samples across the city. Of these, 1,116 were declared ‘unfit’ — or water in which coliform bacteria is present — while as many as 186 were found to contain the E. coli bacteria, which causes intestinal infections and gastrointestinal diseases. At 9.39, the highest percentage of ‘unfit’ samples were collected in A-Ward from the Regal Cinema area in Colaba, Satkar Hotel area in Churchgate, Mint Road chowki near Mantralaya, Dr Ambedkar Nagar in Cuffe Parade and 4th Pasta Lane in Colaba.
One reason, of course, is the age of the water lines in these areas, many of which go back to the colonial period. The second highest percentage of unfit water samples were in Mulund, in T Ward, at 7.62 per cent, and areas like Naigaon Cross Road and S P Compound F-South Ward at 6.81 per cent.
Areas like Carter Road, Mount Mary and Nargis Dutt Nagar in Bandra (West), which is home to a large number of eateries, not to mention celebrities, had the fourth highest percentage of unfit samples, mostly in H-West Ward.
Samples collected in M-West ward, which covers areas like Chheda Nagar, P L Lokhande Marg, Chembur Camp, had 5.5 per cent of samples that didn’t meet the mark.
Regulars at Chembur station eateries also need to be careful: ice samples from hawkers and eateries near the station had high levels of contamination.
BMC officials say the primary reason for water contamination is several small, bunched pipelines that need to be replaced by larger lines, as well as leakages in pipelines.
Indeed, most of the contamination occurs during the transmission process as leaks in a single pipe can have a cascading effect.
“Of the 218 bunch connections, 110 connections have been removed and 57 connections will be removed by March end,” said Ashok Tawadia, BMC Hydraulic Engineer. “There are slums where 20 water pipes pass through a single passage. At such locations, if the lowest pipe has a leakage, it becomes difficult to repair.”
Indeed, the current budget had marked Rs 18.95 crore for removal of such bunch connections.
But there are splotches of good news, too. The R-South ward, which covers areas such as Kandivli East and Kandivli West, had 99.66 per cent of “quality water supplied”, the report found. This was followed by K-East ward, covering areas such as eastern parts of Jogeshwari, Andheri and Vile Parle, and P-North ward covering Malad East and Malad West, both at 98.84 per cent. S-Ward, comprising Bhandup, recorded 98.02 per cent of quality water supplied.
On a citywide basis, too, the overall percentage of unfit samples also declined from 3.79 per cent of unfit samples in 2015-16 to 3.34 per cent in the latest survey period. However, E. coli contamination saw a marginal increase from 0.53 per cent of samples to 0.56 per cent.
HOW TO CLEAN YOUR WATER
- Boil drinking water
- Use a water filter
- Add chlorine drops to stored water/tanks
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