Mantralaya water makes employees sick, officials deny contamination

About two dozen employees of the Mantralaya fell ill on Thursday after they had drinking water supplied by the BMC. Denying any kind of contamination, Mantralaya officials said extreme chlorination of the water might have led to the employees developing nausea and stomach pain. However, some of the employees said the water got contaminated due to a combination of filter machines and coolers placed on each floor.

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Subhash Gangurde, office bearer of Maharashtra State Government Employees Central Federation, confirmed to mid-day that a medical officer in Mantralaya treated his colleagues for vomitting and loose motion. The medical officer was not available for comment. "The doctor said poor quality of drinking water, which is suspected to be contaminated, is the reason behind so many people falling ill. The affected employees were advised to go home for rest and further treatment," Gangurde said, adding that the employees have submitted a memorandum to the PWD seeking action. Some of them even said that they have been complaining about the water quality for a couple of days now.

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When asked, PWD secretary Ajit Sagane said all the water tanks were cleaned 15 days back. "We check the tanks every 15 days. This problem in particular seems to have happened because of the high dose of chlorine in the water. The civic body is responsible for chlorination of drinking water. We haven't found any serious contamination in the supply," he said. When asked about the coolers and filters, the senior bureaucrat said the equipment were serviced regularly. "We will check them again," he added. However, assistant engineer of A ward (water works) said, "When we checked the water it was found to be clean. But the water in the Mantralaya tanks smelt of chlorine. When we enquired with the PWD officer and pumping staff, they said there was some problem in the internal system. We will check the supply on Saturday." Chief secretary Ajoy Mehta ordered PWD to check all water supply lines, filter machines and tanks and send the water samples for testing.

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