What-a-Woe

After receiving dirty BMC water for two months, residents of Marve will have to wait for another  couple of weeks for the water problems in the area to be sorted out

Every time Rutuja Phadnis, a resident of Marve, goes to pour a glass of water at her home, she changes her mind and instead prefers drinking a soft drink. And it not just Rutuja who has made replacements for drinking water; the residents of Marve share a similar grievance. For the past two months, the residents there have been receiving dirty, brown water from their water pipelines.
“The problem began around two months back. Earlier the colour of the water was light brown, to which we didn’t pay much attention, thinking that it was only temporary. During this time, we took necessary precautions like boiling and filtering the water before drinking it. However, everyone got worried when the problem persisted. It looked like mud water and none of us could take the risk of consuming it,” says Phadnis.
Moreover things took a serious turn when children and elders from the vicinity complained of fever and loose motions. “Our doctors said that the ailment was probably due to dirty water, as they had been getting similar complaints from many  residents,” says Usha Jadhav, another resident from the area.
In the absence of clean drinking water, the residents had to buy packed water for daily consumption.
“For around a month’s time, we had to spend `60 everyday to buy packed water. Those who could not afford packed water would simply filter and boil the water,” says Kruti Desai, another resident.
However, there were many families who preferred using this dirty water for non-drinking purposes like washing clothes and flushing the toilet. “There were days when the water was so dirty, that we couldn’t even use it for washing clothes, as it would dirty our clothes further,” says Jaywanti Yeole, one of the residents living on the lower floors of one of the societies.
The residents are now been attended by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials, who claim that the problem would be fixed in a couple of week’s time.
“It was only some days back that the BMC officials got down to their job and identified the problem to fix it. The contaminated water was due to the dirty and rusted pipes through which we got the supply. But now, the BMC has started fixing the problem, but it may take some time before the entire work of cleaning and changing the pipes gets done,” says E Thomas.
This is the very cause due to which the residents have started facing acute water shortage. “Whatever dirty water we received earlier could at least be used for non-drinking purposes. But since the time the BMC began their repair work, the quantity of water received by us is extremely low,” adds Thomas.
H Mhatre, a senior official from P North Ward says, “We have started with the repair work, which will be completed in a couple of weeks time.”

--DIVYA NAIR