Keypoints:
- BMC has received the prestigious Jal Nirmalta Award for providing pure water to the citizens.
- The award was given by the Indian Water Works Association (IWWA) for water supply which is recorded to be 99.34% pure.
- Deputy Commissioner (Special Engineering) Ajay Rathore accepted this award at a special function in Hyderabad recently.
The BMC receives the prestigious Jal Nirmalta National Award for providing pure water to the citizens. Reportedly, the water is said to be 99.34% pure. The award was given by the Indian Water Works Association (IWWA). The national award for ‘Water Purity’ is given annually by the IWWA, exclusively to the local self governing bodies for improving water quality with the help of technology,efficient administration and high quality management in the field of water supply.
“Water samples supplied to the citizens in 21 cities of the country were collected by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs under the Prime Minister’s Water Life Mission Program and tested for 47 different standards of water as per IS 10500: 2012. Worli, Curry Road, Shivdi in the city area of BMC; Malad, Kandivali, Jogeshwari in the western suburbs; Also, water samples were collected from slums in Powai, Sakinaka, Ghatkopar and Chembur in the eastern suburbs. All the samples were found to be suitable for 47 standards,” said an official.
Officials said that at these locations, water samples are collected daily from 110 to 130 places by the Department of Health and Quality Control (Water Works) and the latest and accurate technology called ‘Membrane Filter Technique’ (MFT) is used in the laboratory under the jurisdiction of the Department of Health. The laboratory at Dadar has received the nomination of National Board of Laboratories (NABL) in December 2020.
Officials said that during the period 2013-14 to 2019-20, BMC has replaced the old dilapidated 250 km long water pipes of various diameters. They have also been repaired at some locations.
Mumbai Municipal Corporation has replaced the old dilapidated 250 km long water pipes of various diameters.
“In addition, leaks at 1 lakh 75 thousand places have been found and repaired. While work was in progress at various place 89,908 service connections were replaced under the road improvement program. From 2012 to 2018, various fast tunnels were completed. Due to various measures taken by the Department of Water Engineering in the last five years, the quality and purity of water has increased to 99.34 per cent in the year 2019-20,” said a BMC official.