Juhu Koliwada residents receiving dirty drinking water for a month

Further explaining the issue, residents said that they receive drinking water every day from 10:30am to 12:30pm, out of which 80 to 90% is not usable and added that in the last 15 to 20 minutes they get considerably clean water that they store for drinking

Mumbai: The residents from the Juhu Koliwada area have alleged that for nearly a month they have been receiving dirty drinking water which emanates a strong foul smell and people are falling sick because of such contaminated water.

Mumbai, India - April 05, 2023: Residents of Juhu Koliwada receive sewage like drinking water since a month now, in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, April 05, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo) (HT PHOTO)

“The issue of poor-quality water has been on and off for the past few years. However, since last month, the water smells very bad, as if it is sewage water. There have been instances of people falling sick in the area because of such contaminated water,” Johann Fernandes, a 14-year-old student and resident of the area said.

Further explaining the issue, residents said that they receive drinking water every day from 10:30am to 12:30pm, out of which 80 to 90% is not usable and added that in the last 15 to 20 minutes they get considerably clean water that they store for drinking.

Cecilia D’Souza, a resident from the area said, “We get dirty water for more than an hour. It is only in the last few minutes that the water is clean for use. We have complained to the BMC so many times but there has been no solution to this.”

On March 6, a Twitter page called @JuhuBuzz tweeted a post tagging the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), with pictures and videos of receiving foam-like drinking water in the Juhu Koliwada area. However, despite multiple such tweets, BMC only responded to the issue on April 2, via Twitter.

When contacted, P Velrasu, additional commissioner (Projects), said, “I am not available. Thank you.”

Meanwhile, an official from the water works department of BMC said that the pipeline in the area is very old and they are finding ways to plug the contamination. “We received a complaint few days ago and it was a holiday as well. Though tricky, we plan to detect and plug the contamination. We will try and resolve the issue soon,” he added.

Another resident from the area, Mona Shah, said, “BMC has been sending us water bills regularly and we are paying the bills as well on time, yet the water is such.”