Water in suburbs full of bacteria, finds BMC

If you live between Bandra and Andheri, chances are that the water that was supplied to your home by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in July was not much better than sewage water. Kunal Purohit reports.

If you live between Bandra and Andheri, chances are that the water that was supplied to your home by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in July was not much better than sewage water.

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Water to suburbs like Parle (W), Santacruz (W), Bandra (E), Bandra (W), and parts of Andheri(E), Hill Road, Khar Danda and Juhu, is supplied from three reservoirs — Verawali hill reservoir III and two reservoirs at Pali Hill. BMC test samples collected from these three reservoirs in July show “infinite” presence of E.coli bacteria.

The test report, a copy of which is available with HT, reveals that nine of the 24 water samples collected from different outlets at these reservoirs in July showed “infinite” presence of E.coli. Civic officials privately admit that water with such an infinite presence of E.coli is as good as sewage water.

The water supplied by the BMC is used for drinking, cooking and bathing in most households in the city.

Dr AR Pazare, head of medicine, KEM Hospital, said: “The source of E.coli is human and animal stools. Hence, water infected with this bacteria is unfit for drinking. E.coli is commonly known to cause diarrhoea.” The bacteria can be killed if the water is boiled before drinking, he added.

The contaminated samples were found right at the reservoir outlets, where water is supposed to be treated with chlorine for purification before being released into different distribution networks.

Additional municipal commissioner Rajiv Jalota told HT: “I believe that this must be a result of a sampling error. Many a time, samples get infected if they are not collected properly. This could be one such case, but we will look into it and see what has gone wrong.”