Two housing societies in Borivali complain of dirty tap water

After the water took a muddier turn on Monday, most residents switched to bottled water for their drinking and cooking needs, even as they wait for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to act on their complaints

Mumbai: At least two housing societies in Borivali West, with around 1,500 residents, have been receiving dirty water in their taps since Saturday, according to residents. After the water took a muddier turn on Monday, most residents switched to bottled water for their drinking and cooking needs, even as they wait for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to act on their complaints.

Mumbai, India - Feb. 18, 2025: Residents of Eltee Geeje CHS in Borivali are facing the problem of contaminated drinking water from BMC. in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, February 18, 2025. (Photo by Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

“Since Saturday, the water we’ve been receiving has a slight yellow tinge to it,” said Neelam Barot, a resident of the Eltee Geejay Cooperative Housing Society in Saibaba Nagar, which has 149 flats and 23 shops. “At first, we thought there had been some pipe repairing that was making it so. But since Monday evening, the water has turned murkier and muddy, so much so that we immediately ordered some bottled water and have been surviving on it. Everyone is doing the same.”

Barot added that a few people in her society even complained of stomach pains, but no one had reported any serious health issues yet.

Next door to them, the Embee Geejay Cooperative Housing Society, which has 152 flats, also reported the same issue. “When we filled our utensils with water to boil it on Saturday, we noticed it was yellowish,” said Kishore Patil, a resident of the society. “But from Sunday it has taken on a brownish tinge. We thought it may be an issue only for our house, but now that we’ve checked with our neighbours, others have been facing it too.”

As the water quality got visibly worse, the Eltee Geejay CHS on Monday sent a complaint to the BMC’s R Central ward, even paying them a visit in the evening as there was no sign of improvement.

“We don’t want it to get so worse that people have to deal with diarrhoea and vomiting, so we’ve informed the BMC that we’ve been getting cloudy water with a foul smell and colour,” said Manoj Nair, chairman of the society. “Around six months ago, we faced a similar situation in which a sewage pipe had broken and was contaminating our drinking water, making our water dirty and stink. We had to rely on tankers and bottled water then,” he added.

HT reached out to the BMC for comment but didn’t get a response till the time of going to press.