‘50% are unhappy with their water’

More than 50% of Mumbai’s population are not satisfied with the water they are supplied with. This has been revealed in a survey conducted by the Academy of Pharmaceutical, Kalina.

The study on a sample size of 500 people from Cuffe Parade to Borivili was conducted in June. “Over 64% of households find the water bad because of foul smell and change in colour. Fifty five per cent of people even suffered from diarrhoea, jaundice and gastroentritis due the supplied water,” said Prachi Mishra, who headed the research team.
“Due to some construction work in the area, our water had a foul smell. We complained but to no use,” said Sakhshi Punjabi, a resident of Santa Cruz. Almost 83% per cent of the citizens who complained said that no action was taken.

The findings state that the problem was yearly and traditional and modern measures of using muslin cloth, boiling, chlorinating and water purifiers showed little effect. According to Mishra, with no change in the picture year after year, 50% preferred to go for bottled water.

Jayashree Choudhry, an HR professional who stays in Cuffe Parade, said, “Keeping in view the health of my family, I have been buying bottled water as I can’t risk my family falling ill. Even after monsoon the water quality hasn’t really improved.”

To add to the woes almost 47% of the respondents said that their housing societies have not bothered to clean the tanks before or after the monsoon.