Water contamination in city touches alarming levels: Study

MUMBAI: Is Mumbai''s water quality going down the drain? A significant percentage of water in many parts of the city is unpotable and contaminated with excessive bacterial pollution, says a recent study by a city-based environmental organisation.
The study, which was conducted by the Society for a Clean Environment (Socleen) and funded by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA), entailed random testing of piped water samples.The survey found an "alarming" number of samples unfit for drinking, with levels of bacterial contamination hovering at about 20 per cent in many wards.
In some localities, the level of fecal coliform (bacteria found in excreta)— one of the most important indicators of the safety of drinking water —was several hundred times higher than the norm. For example, samples from P.L. Lokhande Marg in Chembur, Masjid, Parel-Dadar, Mulund and Jogeshwari, touched 1600 fc per 100 ml of water, while the Bureau of Indian Standards'' safe norm is 10 fecal coliform (fc) per 100 ml.
According to the World Health Organisation, there should be no fecal coliform in drinking water.
The presence of this bacteria is linked to diseases like dysentery, cholera and typhoid.
The contamination, the study notes, is largely due to the unhygienic conditions in specific localities and because of the infiltration of sewage into water mains. This happens where water lines run through dirty pools of water, parallel to sewage pipes, or are damaged, either within the building compounds or in the streets. Poor maintenance of overhead and underground tanks is another important cause.
A "high-risk situation" was noted in certain localities where microbial pollution is widely prevalent.
These comprise M\east ward which covers parts of Chembur and Trombay, where 61 per cent of the samples tested were found to be unpotable, B ward (covering Nagpada, Mohammed Ali Road, Byculla) with 40 per cent and Ghatkopar (N ward) with 38 per cent.
Bandra, Khar and Santa Cruz (west), which are included in H\west ward, and the Parel-Dadar stretch (G\South and North wards) also fall into this category.
Incidentally, some of Chembur''s P.L. Lokhande Marg''s middle-class housing societies, which are surrounded by slums, had the worst water quality, with 70 per cent of the samples found to be unpotable.