Mulund, Bandra have the ‘dirtiest’ water in Mumbai
Picture Courtesy : India Partners
Despite continuous efforts by the civic body to improve the quality of drinking water in the city, a study shows that the water across Mumbai has only got ‘dirtier’ since last year.
The Environment Status Report (ESR) of Mumbai for the year 2015-16 shows that the contamination level in water has risen to 4.6 percent from the 4.5 percent recorded last year. The level is determined based on the presence of bacteria and other pollutants in the water.
As for specific areas, Mulund gets the dirtiest water in the city, with contamination levels as high as 13 percent. Bandra takes the second spot and Dongri takes the third, with contamination levels of 10 and 8 percent respectively.
The steepest rise in contamination levels was witnessed at Dahisar, where the level rose to 6 percent compared to last year’s 3 percent. Other areas like Goregaon and Parel also witnessed an increase in contamination levels.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) releases the ESR every year on August 1 and sends it to all relevant authorities including the state government. However as of August 13 this year, the report has not been published by the civic body.
When contacted, a senior official from the BMC refused to comment on why there way a delay in publishing the report this year. The official did confirm that one of the biggest contributors to the contamination were the old pipelines.
Over the past decade, the BMC has spent over Rs 1,000 crore on replacing the pipelines. But due to the complex nature of work, it is expected to take a few more years before all of Mumbai’s old pipelines have been replaced by newer ones.
