Mumbai: Stinky, yellow water in taps at Lokhandwala, Oshiwara

BMC workers check for leakages. Pics/Sameer Markande

For the past eight days, residents of Lokhandwala and Oshiwara have been using packaged water not only for drinking, but even for bathing. That's not for any beauty treatment, but because they have been receiving contaminated tap water. Initially residents said they received muddy water, but now it is yellowish in colour, not clear and stinks. A few of them claimed children have fallen ill due to this and hence they have started to use packaged drinking water even for non-potable purposes. A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said they are checking for leakages in the water pipeline.

Paying for water

The residents' are worried as they have to pay huge sums of money to by the packaged water that use for drinking, cooking and even bathing. Every day a household uses over 20 litres of it. While some residents claimed that receiving contaminated water is an issue every monsoon, this year it has lasted for a long time. Locals at DN Nagar, Andheri west also complained that they are getting almost half their normal water supply for the past eight days.

A resident shows the packaged water he has bought

'Kids fall sick'

Sangeeta Manchanda, a resident of Lokhandwala said, "We have written to the BMC about the water problem. My two-year-old granddaughter has a stomach infection due to the water. We are using bottled water as the tap water is completely of no use." A resident of Fourth Cross Lane, Lokhandwala, said, "My daughter who is hardly two-years-old had a stomach infection and lost almost 2kg. Now we refrain from using the tap water even to bathe, as the infection could grip her again."

Dhaval Shah of the Lokhandwala-Oshiwara Citizens' Association said, "Many people have started surviving on bottled water in our areas. About 65,000 people are likely to be affected. The local corporator has been intimated about the issue and the BMC has started working on solving the problem."

Also Read: BMC says Mumbaikars can now directly drink water from the tap

Checking for leakages

While Assistant Municipal Commissioner Prashant Gaikwad was not available for comment, an official from the BMC ward said, "The water department engineers and staff are looking into the issue and checking whether there are any leakages in the pipeline. Once the leakages are detected we will immediately fix the problem."

Also Read: Mumbai: Gorai village in Malad pays for water they don't get; run dry since 2009

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