After murky, smelly water running in the society's taps for the past two days brought life in East End Apartments to a standstill, the society's water-management experts are of the opinion that the chemical mixed in the groundwater tank might be a pesticide.
"Usually, the chlorine used to disinfect water comes in the form of a black liquid. But the chemical used in the water tank seemed yellow," said PK Agrawal, a prominent member of the society's in-house water-management committee. "And we are aware of the distinct smell chlorine has. This particular chemical, however, had a pungent smell quite different from that of chlorine."
Agrawal said the society lacked a proper mechanism for treating groundwater. "Besides, the tanks were kept open even though there is a provision to lock them. This kind of lackadaisical approach might prove fatal some day," he added.
City Spidey also spoke to a few water experts in the city. Manoj Mishra, one such expert, said, “The situation at East End is quite alarming. They should carry out water purification as soon as possible. It is advisable to keep the chlorine content in water under 0.2 ppm."
Nitya Jacob, a well-known water expert who heads WaterAid India, a Delhi-based NGO, said, "If water is murky, there is chance it was mixed with sewer water. It could also mean poor quality of chlorine used — or excess of it."
With the lab-test report awaited, we urge all East End residents to stick to mineral-water bottles for all purposes till purification work is completed.
