Studies confirm poor water quality in Mumbai

Dead fish in my drinking water source

As monsoon comes, Mumbai's water supply gets contaminated. This year, too, the situation seems grim. Two recent studies have indicted Mumbai's drinking water supply. One study has found Escherichia coli (E coli) in the city's drinking water supply, while the other has traced high levels of oil and grease in a major drinking water source.

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (mcgm), in its annual water samples testing report, has said 10 samples of drinking water collected from posh Mumbai suburbs such as Colaba, Byculla and Dahisar were loaded with E coli.

The bacterium causes gastroenteritis, diarrhoea and severe kidney damage. Another 80 samples were highly contaminated with coliform bacteria and were unfit for drinking, said the report. According to the who, the level of coliform bacteria in drinking water should not be exceed 10 per 100 ml, whereas E coli should be absent.

A blame game has already begun. mcgm contends that Mumbai's water supply pipelines are almost 100 years old and leaky. Hence, during the rainy season, sewage seeps through the pipelines and contaminates drinking water with E coli. It also blames the residents' societies for not cleaning water tanks regularly. Health experts, however, differ. "Every year during monsoon, I receive a large number of patients suffering from gastroenteric problems linked chiefly to contaminated water…But residents are helpless as they cannot sue the mcgm. The Indian government has only recommended drinking water standards but not made them legally binding," says a physician based in Gorai.

In a separate incident, over 700 kg of dead fish were found floating in the Bhatsa Lake on July 10. The lake, located in Thane district, is a major source of drinking water to Mumbai.

Initially the authorities blamed it on local residents for poisoning the lake water to catch fish. But later tests by Mumbai-based Central Institute of Fisheries Education showed high levels of oil and grease effluents in the water—89 mg per litre (mg/l). The permissible limit of such contaminants in water sources is up to 10 mg/l. Local residents say the waste oil has been released by Shahpur-based Liberty Oil Mills Ltd.

mcgm has demanded action against the company and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board is investigating the matter.

NIDHI JAMWAL

SURYA SEN

Corporation to appoint consultant for 24-hour water supply

K.V. Prasad
— File Photo: K. Ananthan

‘Anytime water’: A view of the Pilloor Dam

Coimbatore: The Coimbatore Corporation is set to appoint a consultant to study the feasibility of 24-hour supply of drinking water in the city.

After a hazy picture for some months after the proposal was made, things seem to be getting clear now with the Corporation Council clearing the bid of a Chennai-based consultant for preparing a detailed project report.

The Corporation’s ambitious move for 24-hour supply hinges on the implementation of the Rs.113-crore Pilloor Phase II drinking water scheme under the Central Government’s infrastructure development programme - Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The Corporation is pushing hard to get the project going after a delay of 10 years.

According to the Corporation, 125 million litres of drinking water a day from the Pilloor Dam, and another 75 million litres from the existing Siruvani scheme, will enable the Corporation to make the 24-hour supply that the mission mandates. One of the conditions for funding water schemes is that the local body concerned should ensure uninterrupted supply of drinking water.

After the feasibility study is done, the next stage is a 24-hour trial supply in 15 wards. With the Council giving the clearance, the Corporation seems to have moved closer to implementation. Apart from the main water scheme, the Corporation has to draw up a separate one for internal distribution that will facilitate 24-hour supply. The main project is to bring water only up to the city. ‘We need 10 to 20 more overhead tanks within the city to take care of the internal distribution. The existing main storage reservoirs are not sufficient,’ Mayor R. Venkatachalam says.

The Council’s clearance is very significant because there is no point in staggering supply despite having three drinking water schemes. ‘Our objective is ‘anytime water’ for the people in the city. No one’s daily routine should be disrupted by staggered or erratic supply schedule,’ he says.

Revival Of Traditional Stonespouts

....capacity-building programmes in community level to empower the local people in conserving the traditional stonespouts and managing their local source of water. Similarly, the project will operate informative programme on quality test of drinking water and household methods of water purification
UN-HABITAT Water for Asian Cities Programme, Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City (LSMC) and Center for Integrated Urban Development has launched a project to build the capacity of local people for the conservation of traditional stonespouts and establishment of community based water management system. The project has been entitled ‘Capacity Building of Local people in conserving Traditional Stone Spouts of Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City’.

The piped water provided by Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL) in Lalitpur is not enough to meet the actual water demand. The stonespouts in Lalitpur produce about 1.8 million litres of water during the dry season and 5 million litres during the rainy season.

“Realizing the fact that drinking water problem faced by the Lalitpur locals can be mitigated by conserving and utilising water from traditional stonespouts, we have launched the project,” said Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha, chief technical advisor of UN-HABITAT. Executive Officer of Lalitpur Sub-metropolitan City Krishna Prasad Devkota said that it will be more effective if KUKL initiate to utilize the local water sources coordinating with the community in the present context when KUKL has not been able to supply adequate drinking water in Lalitpur.

Stressing on recharging the ground aquifer, Dr. Roshan Raj Shrestha told that it is equally necessary to utilize and conserve local water sources. Executive Director of CIUD Padma Sunder Joshi informed that the project will distribute water in the community level by managing water of Amrit Hiti, Tapa Hiti and Sundhara. The project has selected three traditional stonespouts to manage drinking water in community level based on the study conducted by UN-HABITAT to conserve traditional stonespouts and water sources in Lalitpur. The project has mainly focused on establishment of community based water management system associated with three selected traditional stonespouts in partnership with local users and the municipality.
The project will operate capacity-building programmes in community level to empower the local people in conserving the traditional stonespouts and managing their local source of water. Similarly, the project will operate informative programme on quality test of drinking water and household methods of water purification.
The total cost of the project is US$ 1,42,000 and UN-HABITAT has contributed US$ 90,000 in the project. The local consumers, CIUD, LSMC will bear the remaining amount of the project that will cover a period of 18 months from May 2008 to October 2009.

Source: Gorkhapatra
http://www.ngoforum.net