According to the other residents, people in the building started falling ill over the last few days, but they had no clue that the water was contaminated. They assumed the illness was due to a change in weather conditions. They were later surprised to know that almost 42 families had complaints of a family member falling sick.
“This is happening since the last few days, but we were ignorant that the mass illness could be due to water contamination. The same came to light when a resident complained of a foul smell emerging from the tap water in the toilet and bathroom. When we started an inquiry, we found that the water in the sump tank and the well (another source of water for the sump tank) was polluted with sewage,” said Sandeep Mayekar, Chairman of Murgao Avenue Residents Society.
Mayekar and the others suspect that the sewage could be due to a leak in the sewage line or an overflow of sewage due to heavy rains. “Last time the neighbourhood faced a flood-like situation, and so we suspect that this could be a reason behind the contamination. Also the flood-like situation is due to the MMC’s failure to carry out pre-monsoon works in our locality, and thus, sewage and other dirt started seeping into the water tanks and wells in our locality,” said Nazir Khan, a resident of Murgao Avenue.
Meanwhile, the officials of Vasco’s sewage department and the Urban Health Centre, Vasco inspected the site on Wednesday. They collected water samples to verify the cause of contamination and asked the people to stop using water from the wells and underground tank.
