Madhya Pradesh: The drinking water in Bhopal has more bacteria than urine, says an independent report conducted by city-based environmentalist Dr Subhash C Pandey. The tests were done on water samples collected from railway stations, government hospitals, government colleges, bus stations, municipal corporation tanks, ice factories, hand pumps and other public places to make the report, said a report published in The Quint.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs report for Swachh Sarvekshan survey, however, presents a completely different picture and shows that Bhopal is one of the cleanest cities in India. But Pandey’s report underlines that the level of coliform bacteria and total dissolved solids (TDS) – comprising inorganic salts, mainly calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, bicarbonates, chlorides, and sulfates – were found 2400 times more than the permissible limit in the city’s drinking water.
These contents are what one finds in urine and can cause stomach-related diseases, waterborne diseases, blood pressure issues, headaches, skin diseases and cancer.
According to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) 2012, the coliform bacteria in drinking water should be 0 MPN in 100 ml. Heavy metal iron should be less than 0.3 mg per litre, and TDS should not be more than 500 mg per litre.
But Pandey’s report reflects that Bhopal’s drinking water has 1,100 to 2,400 MPN of coliform bacteria, while heavy metal was 1.4 mg in water samples of MVM College and TDS was between 495 mg to 772 mg per litre. The report highlights these alarming facts.
Main Reason Is Lack of Maintenance
Pandey also raised concerns over government apathy saying that there is a lack of proper maintenance of water tanks, water pipelines, and sewage pipelines. He said that water pipelines and sewage pipelines, which are wired closely, sometimes burst and filthy water gets mixed with the drinking water and nobody fixes it.
“There are two or three major lakes in the city, and sewage pipelines open up in most of them,” said Pandey. “This contaminates the groundwater, therefore, water in hand pumps, tube wells, and bore wells also gets contaminated.”
Pandey asserted that neither the corporation (Bhopal Municipal Corporation) nor the pollution control board conducted a survey in the city in the last couple of years.
“As far as tube wells, water pumps, and water tankers are concerned, nobody cleans then once they’re put in use. The corporation has turned a deaf ear despite several complaints,” Pandey added.
NGT PIL
He said these findings and reports will be sent to the departments concerned so that punitive actions can take place in time and save the people. He also plans to file a PIL in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on the basis of his report.
Reactions of government officials
Regional officer of the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board, PS Bundela said, “The board has not received any complaint regarding contamination of water by the residents. We can only initiate a probe or test water if anyone reports the matter.”
Bundela added, “There is no fixed schedule to carry out surveys and I don’t remember when the last testing of water samples was conducted.”
The Divisional Railway Manager, West Central Railway, Shobhan Choudhury, immediately initiated a probe and also sought a report from Pandey.
However, Mayor Alok Sharma sounded clueless about the issue, the Quint report said. He said “I’m not aware of that fact and I don’t know much about it. Neither have I received any complaint from the residents nor by the corporation officials over impure water supply.”