After multiple complaints to the H East BMC ward office, civic officials visited the site and identified a few leak points, which they promptly sealed. Initially, this seemed to improve the situation
Patrakar Society in Bandra East, where residents have been facing a drinking water problem
Residents of three prominent housing societies in Bandra East — Patrakar, Sahitya Sahawas (famously known as the society where cricketer Sachin Tendulkar grew up), and Kalabhushan — have been grappling with severe water contamination for the past 15 days. The murky brown tap water has forced many to switch to packaged drinking water, as repeated complaints to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) have yielded no lasting solution.
The contaminated water received by the residents of Bandra East. Pic/Dr Ajit Desai, President, Bandra East alm
“We’ve been getting dirty, brown water every single day for the last 15 days. Authorities keep telling us to wait a few more days, saying they’re still waiting on internal permissions from the BMC ward office. How are we expected to bear this for another 4-10 days?” asked Siddharth Pardhe, a resident of Sahitya Sahawas, located on Madhusudan Kalelkar Marg near Kala Nagar.
This isn’t the first time residents have faced such an ordeal. “We had the exact same issue in June last year. Back then, officials told us the contamination was due to nearby construction work. We even had the water tested and found dangerous levels of E. coli bacteria. Last year, it was resolved in about 10 days. This time, it’s already been over two weeks, and we have not seen any improvement,” Pardhe added.
The dirty water residents have been receiving, displayed in a plastic bottle. Pics/Shadab Khan
After multiple complaints to the H East BMC ward office, civic officials visited the site and identified a few leak points, which they promptly sealed. Initially, this seemed to improve the situation. “For a few days, the water was slightly murky, but it seemed like things were getting better. Then suddenly, it got worse, the water now has a pungent stench,” said Sonal Kotnis, a resident of Patrakar Co-op Society.
With no relief in sight, residents have turned to buying packaged drinking water in bulk. “Between the two societies, we have over a hundred flats. Now our regular water supplier is running out of stock, so we’re being forced to source bottled water from other areas like Bandra West,” Pardhe said.
One of the biggest concerns is that home water purifiers are failing to cope with the level of contamination. “We initially relied on our purifiers, but people started falling sick. I had my purifier filter changed recently, but it clogged up again in just three days. Constantly replacing filters is expensive, and not everyone can afford it,” said Shefali Sadhu, another resident of Patrakar society.
Dr Ajit Desai, president of the Bandra East Advanced Local Management (ALM), acknowledged that this has been an ongoing issue. “This area has had water contamination problems ever since redevelopment work began. Constant digging and soil disturbance led to contamination, just like in June last year. Our MLA, Varun Sardesai, is following up with BMC and other departments, but there's only so much we can do.”
When mid-day contacted the BMC’s H East ward office, calls were redirected from one official to another, many of whom claimed they were not from the department concerned. Finally, an official from the water department, requesting anonymity, said: “We’ve received all the complaints and are working to resolve them. But we cannot take any action until we get clearance from the roads department. That delay is what’s holding things up.”
The road in question, which lies directly in front of both societies, was laid out over 15 years ago. Residents say they are more than willing to have it dug up if that’s what it takes. “We just want this problem resolved. Everyone in our buildings is getting sick from this water,” said Sadhu.
BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner, Abhijit Bangar, in charge of storm water drains, told mid-day, “Generally, during the monsoon, the BMC does not grant permission to dug up roads for any work. However, since this case in Bandra East involves water contamination, we are giving permission to dig up the concrete road in front of the societies.”
Siddharth Pardhe
When asked about the delay in issuing permission, he added, “Multiple departments need to approve such work, which is why it’s taking time. But since this is a matter of unsafe and unusable water, I will speak to the ward officials and recommend that they expedite the clearances so that residents don’t have to suffer any further.”
Bangar also addressed the recurring water shortage in the area. “I will coordinate with the wards to see if we can set up a separate procedure to deal with the water shortage issue as well, since this is another serious problem that affects the day-to-day life of residents in areas with low or irregular supply,” he said.
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