Fireworks in the waterworks

Vaishnavi C. Sekhar / TNN / Jul 16, 2003, 23:48 IST

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MUMBAI: You would think that a damaging study on the city's water quality would set off alarm bells at civic headquarters. But after this newspaper reported on such a study last week, Mumbai's municipal commissioner K.C. Srivastava reacted in typically kneejerk fashion—he refuted the findings, dismissing the survey as too small to be representative.

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: You would think that a damaging study on the cityâ€™s water quality would set off alarm bells at civic headquarters. But after this newspaper reported on such a study last week, Mumbaiâ€™s municipal commissioner K.C. Srivastava reacted in typically kneejerk fashionâ€”he refuted the findings, dismissing the survey as too small to be representative. Hereâ€™s the lowdown on the fireworks in the waterworks. Socleen says not so clean: The study, which was carried out by the Society for a Clean Environment (Socleen) and commissioned by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, revealed that parts of the city get water with excessive levels of fecal coliform. A scientific way of saying water-loo. BMC bites back: Mumbaiâ€™s water quality is the best in India. The rebuttal: In fact, samples tested at the reservoir show that the cityâ€™s water is among the best in the world. But transportation by old pipes, running through gutters and alongside sewers, brings the quality down by several notches, not to mention poor maintenance of tanks and pumps. BMC bites back: Sample size is too small. Socleen tested 2,244 samples over three years, while the BMC tests 2.28 lakh samples annually. The rebuttal: Socleen actually tested many more samples than reported in the study but only chose to write about the ones it was sure of. Two more points in its favour: It tested samples randomly and not in fixed locations as the BMC does. Samples also were taken inside building compounds, which the BMC does not do. In any case, the BMCâ€™s average of unpotable samples hovers at 15 per centâ€”no mean figure. BMC bites back: Contamination, if any, is localised. The rebuttal: Scientists say localised contamination is inconsequential only if it lasts short time. But Socleen tested samples over a long period, and only those areas that repeatedly came up red were counted. Besides, reports of murky water routinely crop up in various parts of the city like Colaba, Chembur and Dadar. BMC bites back: If the water was really contaminated, half of Mumbai would falling sick. The rebuttal: No doubt infections are the result of multiple causes, but water is an important factor. Even BMC records show there has been an average of 400 diarrhoea deaths every year since 1998, while in 2001 alone, there were 29 gastroentiritis deaths and 956 cases of typhoid. Time to come clean: Instead of issuing denials, the BMC should dialogue. For starters, it could stop pretending that it never received copy of the report and figure out why thereâ€™s a difference between its own assessments and the Socleen study. Also, this is great opportunity to lobby for money to overhaul the ancient and leaky network of water pipes.</div> </div>

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