Sewerage-contaminated water supply drives Marine Drive residents to hospital

    Several residents living near Marine Drive have been hospitalised for diarrhoea in the last two weeks, as their water supply lines have been contaminated due to leaks in underground sewerage lines in the area. 

    For over two weeks, Oval Cooperage residents in Churchgate have been battling water contamination. The BMC suspects that a leakage might have occurred from one of the supply lines. 
    Persis Kothawala (75) said many residents in her building Queen's Court complained of severe loose motion and vomiting and had to be admitted to hospital. One of them, Perin Mani (77), is in Parsi General hospital for four days with complaints of diarrhoea. A security guard in the locality has been complaining of vomiting and abdominal pains. "It's Mani's fourth day in hospital and doctors said the cause is polluted water in the area," said Kothawala. 
    Ashad Mehta, president, Oval Cooperage Residents' Association said the problem has reached serious proportions as the civic body is unable to detect the source of contamination. "It started around two weeks ago where there was severe sewerage contamination in our supply line and the odour and colour of water changed. When contacted, civic officials promptly arrived, detected contamination near Eros and said the problem was solved. Thereafter, for four days the water was clear," said Mehta. 
    But four days later, the problem resurfaced in the affected buildings including Windsor House, Empress Cour t, Swastik Cour t, Queen's Court facing Oval maidan on Maharshi Karve Road. "Once again the civic officials came and said another leak was found and had been plugged," said Mehta. 
    Yet, for the third time, residents received contaminated water on Monday night. "The BMC's underground pipes are old and corroded. With the problem recurring a third time, residents are up in arms," said Mehta. "We can't even clean utensils lest the bacteria stays behind. Much as I appreciate that the BMC is prompt, a kind of fear has crept into residents' minds," he added. 
    A civic official from the BMC's hydraulic department said, "We have detected three points and closed them. Old service pipes generally near drainage lines of the building are corroded. Ten days back the sewerage lines department dug up a trench on Veer Nariman Road and was repairing damaged lines. We are taking precautionary measures like flushing out dirty water with pumps." 
NOT A DROP TO DRINK OCT 11 Water supply lines to some Marine Drive buildings like Windsor House, Empress Court, Swastik Court, Queen's Court, got contaminated by sewerage lines due to a trench that had been dug up by the civic body to repair sewerage lines. BMC officials said the source of the problem was near Eros and plugged the leak OCT 20 | As the problem resurfaced, the BMC dug trenches at several spots on Veer Nariman Road and near Eros on Maharshi Karve Road among others, to find the source of the contamination and claimed to have plugged it OCT 29 | On Mondaynight, after residents received contaminated water for the third time, the BMC said it will detect and plug the leak by Wednesday

WATER WOES: Swastik Court (top) and Windsor House are among the affected buildings where residents have to rely on bottled water (below); The BMC is trying to trace the leak (above, right)