We have been getting foul-smelling water for months: Kalina residents

Contaminated water accumulating in the dug-up roads due to a damaged sewage line

Residents of Kalina's Manipada Road have been forced to consume contaminated water for two months due to ongoing road concretisation work. They claim that during the digging process, the old water pipeline was damaged, and the contractor also broke the sewage network, leading to potable water infested with worms. Raj Kutir, a residential building on Manipada Road, has been facing water contamination issues for over a month.

Leena D'sa, a resident, said, "We have been getting foul-smelling water for one and a half months. For the last two weeks, worms have started appearing in the water. We filed a complaint with the BMC, but the issue remains unresolved. I personally feel stomach discomfort, so we have started using bottled water for drinking."

Janki Aiyyar, another resident, highlighted that most of the building's occupants are senior citizens. "Residents have been following up with BMC officials. On Tuesday, a BMC representative visited our building. During this time, I have also experienced an upset stomach. Now, all residents are using bottled water for both drinking and cooking," she said.

Residents of Raj Kutir, a residential building on Manipada Road. Pics/Nimesh Dave

Rajan Narib, a resident of the building's fourth floor, said, "We have been facing this issue for the past two months, ever since the road was dug up for repairs. After our complaint, BMC repaired the water pipeline, but we are still getting contaminated water. Two weeks ago, the sewage network outside our building was damaged. Since then, we have been receiving water with worms."

"At first, we got discoloured water with a bad smell. The society complained about the contamination, but the problems started when the roads were dug up for concretisation," said RC Suvarna, a resident. "Due to this contaminated water, many of us have fallen sick. We are all senior citizens in this building. On Tuesday, we cleaned the underground water storage tank, and on Wednesday, we cleaned the overhead tank. We also ordered a water tanker," said Lalita, another resident.

Currently, 433 km of roads with 1173 patches across Mumbai are under the concretisation project, with BMC allocating R12,000 crore for the initiative. So far, approximately 1333 km of roads have been concretised out of the 2050 km managed by the BMC. Officials from the BMC water supply department stated that the society's water pipeline passes through a sewage line. "Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said, "We will look into this matter."

In response to the BMC's claim, residents countered, "Our pipeline was never passing through the sewage line. During the road repair, the BMC placed the pipeline under the sewage line. Even at that time, we had requested the BMC to keep the water pipeline on the upper side.

Rs 12,000 CR
Money allocated for concreting roads in the city