Not a drop to drink
With temperatures soaring in Bengaluru, scores of people are falling ill with gastroenteritis and other water- borne diseases especially in slums and in localities that lie close to major storm water drains. Several reports of drinking water being contaminated have come in from Padarayanapura, Jagajeevana-ramnagar, KR Market and Rayapuram among other areas recently.
The tragic death of a child last month was also blamed on the unsafe water in the pipes, but the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) vehemently denies all of it, and instead holds unauthorised connections responsible for any contamination there may be in the supply chain.
The city is no stranger, however, to cases of sewage mixing with its drinking water as its sewerage lines run parallel to the water pipelines in several localities. Also, the pipelines in the heart of the city that were laid by the British, are now not just old and corroded, but also prone to leaks, which only increases the risk of sewage seeping into the water supply .
But while the city is visited by water borne diseases every summer, the BWSSB seems to be doing little to plug the leaks in its pipelines. Although it claims to be working on replacing old pipelines, the project is, as usual, plodding along with the board seeming in no hurry to complete it.
As people continue to fall sick there are questions that clearly need answers: Why does the government not come out with standards for private water suppliers? Why don’t people have access to labs where they can get the water they are consuming tested? And why is there no action taken to disconnect unauthorised connections if they are to be blamed for the contamination too?
Perhaps expecting the BWSSB to come out with solutions may be too much to ask even now.
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