Charkop residents fall ill due to foul-smelling, blackish water

Residents in Sectors 3, 6, and 7 of Charkop, Kandivali West, Mumbai, are suffering from waterborne illnesses suspecting sewage contamination in drinking water

MUMBAI: Over the past 15 to 20 days, residents in Sectors 3, 6 and 7 of Charkop, Kandivali West, have been suffering from diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach aches, headaches, heartburn and sore throats. The residents that HT spoke to said they suspected that their drinking water was being contaminated with sewage water, leading to the outbreak of ailments.

Volunteers collect garbage from the waterbody near the Charkop mangroves. (HT Photo)

Chandrakant Sawant, a resident of Sector 7 and secretary of Prabodhankar Thackeray Nagar Sector 7 Sarvajanik Utsav Mandal, said that around 42 societies had been affected by the polluted water. “The whole sector has been facing this issue for almost three weeks now,” he said. “BMC officials have been visiting to check the possible source of contamination but there has not been any resolution till now.”

Many families, including senior citizens and children, have been falling sick and getting medical help. General physician Dr Kishan Bommera, who is also a resident of Sector 7, said, “I see at least 10 to 12 people every day with complaints of vomiting, diarrhoea and stomach ache. Everyone needs to boil their drinking water and even that used for cooking. Water contamination is definitely the cause of all these illnesses.”

Vikas Namde Takke, another resident from Sector 6, has been spending ₹110 for a 10-litre water can every second day. “We have received muddy water from taps during previous monsoons, and expected this to be the same,” he said. “But it is not. The water smells like gutter water and is blackish in colour. Although the BMC is trying to look for the source of contamination, it has still been unable to pinpoint it.”

The frustrated residents demanded that as taxpayers, they wanted the civic body to take immediate action and provide them with safe drinking water to avoid further health complications. On Wednesday, a BMC official who was at one of the affected buildings, said it was not a simple issue and they would need some time to resolve it. “We are trying to find the source of contamination but it is very difficult in such a large area,” he said. “We are working on it.”