25 February,2014 08:49 AM IST | | Neha LM Tripathi
Over 1,000 housing societies in JVPD, DN Nagar, Amboli and adjacent parts had to pay about Rs 30 lakh to get their water tanks cleaned, after the supply of muddy water finally stopped
After having to shell out large amounts in the form of medical bills, residents of K-west (Andheri West) ward have also been forced to spend big on cleaning up their water tanks and obtaining potable water. This double whammy followed Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) supplying contaminated water in the area for several days, leading to cases of various ailments.
Representation pic
Over 1,000 housing societies in JVPD, DN Nagar, Amboli and adjacent parts had to pay Rs 3,000 on an average, amounting to a total sum of about Rs 30 lakh, to get their water tanks scrubbed, after the supply of muddy water finally stopped.
Residents of K-west ward started receiving contaminated water from Wednesday morning. Apart from avoiding usage of this water for household purposes, people also had to purchase bottled water from nearby shops.
This led to a shortage of packaged drinking water in the area, as all of a sudden demand shot up, while supply remained the same. Many of the residents had to book bottled water well in advance to ensure that they had enough for consumption.
"With the HSC board exams of my son in progress, I panicked at the sight of the water. Had BMC officers faced similar situations at their homes, they would have realised how risky and dangerous the situation was," said Anuradha Patel, a resident of JVPD.
Speaking to MiD DAY, Devendra Amberkar, leader of opposition in BMC and resident of DN Nagar, said, "If there are any societies that are yet to get their water tanks cleaned, then I am prepared to finance them from the corporators' fund. My main aim is that no more people should receive impure water at their homes, as this makes things difficult for them and also proves to be a costly affair."
Troubled residents speak
Our society got supplied dirty water for four consecutive days. Being a committee member of the society, I had to answer people's questions, while I myself was clueless about why and how the civic body allowed the supply of this brownish water. Their mistake has forced us to shell out Rs 3,500 for cleaning the water tanks of the society.
- Shanta Shetty, a resident of Rosebud Society, Amboli
If the cause of this entire trouble is BMC, then they should have acted responsibly and made sure that they got the water tanks of the 1,000 affected societies cleaned. We had to pay for cleaning of the water tanks, and also had to spend on water tankers that were called in order to ensure that every home got clean and safe water.
- Madhusudan Sadadekar, president of Kaamgaar Ngr Soc
The water that was being supplied till Sunday was muddy for the first ten minutes in the morning, even after we got our water tanks cleaned. It is the duty of the civic body to ensure that they compensate us for their mistake, but nothing of this sort has been done by them, which is not acceptable.
- Rekha Nadkarni, resident of Jeevan Sangam Society, Andheri (West)
BMC Speaks
"Since the affected areas included places like 7 Bungalows, JVPD, DN Nagar, Amboli, the number of societies affected by the flushing issue in the pipeline is certainly more than 1,000," said Vishwas Shankarwar, assistant commissioner, K-west ward
Rs 3,000
Average sum that each housing society had to shell out to get the water tanks cleaned1
