Mumbai: We’re still not sure our water is safe to use, say Bandra residents

More than two weeks after learning that water being supplied to them contained coliform bacteria and red worms residents of buildings near DrsquoMonte Park in Bandra West are still relying on bottled water The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC took more time than expected to collect water samples for testing at its laboratory after telling residents it had detected the source of contamination and rectified the issue The results are awaited Residents meanwhile have sent samples to private labs and are waiting for the resultsWater that was supplied to housing societies was murky and contained red wormsAfter midday highlighted the issue in its August 30 edition the waterworks department of the BMCrsquos H West ward on Friday informed locals via a WhatsApp message that the civic body was of the opinion that the source of contamination was St Andrewrsquos Road The message also stated that water samples were to be collected from the area for testing at the civic body laboratory on August 31 Saturday A DrsquoMonte Park Road resident told midday ldquoBMC officials had visited the area but they did not collect any samples on Saturday We are not sure why this was the caserdquoAsked about this an official from the ward said ldquoA water supply system upgrade had been scheduled for quite some time even before the complaint of the presence of E coli or other visible impurities were spotted and private lab water test reports were brought to our attention For this upgrade roads beyond the affected area were to be dug up to lay a new 750mm diameter inlet pipelinerdquoThe official added ldquoDue to this digging the roads and changing the pipeline the water supplied to DrsquoMonte Park Road area was murky Our officials had visited the locality to collect water samples but on seeing the water decided to wait for a day till the murky water had cleared as we do not send such samples to the laboratory for testing As of September 4 the samples are being analysed at the laboratory and results are awaitedrdquoA resident told midday ldquoThe stench has disappeared from tap water and the liquid seems much clearer now But we are not sure if it is free of E coli and coliform bacteria We still are using bottled water for drinking and cooking purposes BMC officials have sent a sample for testing to the laboratory We just hope that the issue as they BMC claim has been resolved and we can use the tap water for our daily needsrdquoThe resident added ldquoWe have also sent samples to private labs for testing just to be sure It is not that we do not trust the civic laboratory report It is better to be safe than sorryrdquolsquoBuying bottled waterrsquoA resident disclosed that they had to keep buying 20litre bottles of water every two days for drinking and cooking purposes The resident said ldquoThis is not just the case with me but everyone in the area A 20litre bottle of water costs around R110 but it again depends on the vendor We are two people in our flat and require one can over two days If there are four people in a flat they would require one can a day Almost all residents are buying bottled water since August 18rdquoThe resident said ldquoEven if we consider the rate of a water can to be R100 and three are 20 flats in a society the whole society spends R2000 a day on bottled water There are 17 societies in the area that brings the cost up to Rs 34000 on bottled water almost every day Approximately R578000 has been spent only on drinking water during these daysrdquo