“We will check the water pipeline and the drainage pipeline adjoining the MHADA-owned Shivneri Building in Dadar east,” said Harshad A Kale, assistant municipal commissioner, F South Ward. “Recently, many cases of malaria, jaundice and flu have been reported in the building,” said Subodh Jadhav, vice president, Shivneri Residents Association.

“More than seven cases of malaria have been reported in our building till now,” said Jadhav adding, “We have been taking all the precautions and even boil the water before drinking, but the level of contamination seems very high.”

Resident Shashikant Jadhav has been suffering from malaria for the past 10 days. “I usually don’t fall ill but my temperature is still high,” said Jadhav. For 15-year-old, Tejashree Warang, it has been a difficult month. “I had fever for the last 10-15 days. I am in class X so my studies were also affected,” she said. Another resident, Bhavna More, is not taking any more chances and boils water for drinking as well as cooking. “My husband had jaundice for the last 15 days so I am taking all possible precautions,” More said.

“As the monsoon has begun, we are worried that there will be more such cases. The water logging at Hindmata will lead to more water contamination in our area,” said Jadhav. 

According to the residents, the cause of the water contamination is an illegal structure adjoining the underground water tank of the building. The structure is also adjacent to a drainage pipeline of the building. “The building has an adjoining structure which touches the drainage pipeline which is not plastered or covered, leading to contamination in the water pipeline,” said Kale.

The building houses more than 1,500 people. The matter was taken to court almost two years ago but the decision is still pending.

“We had made complaints against the owner of the structure in 2008, but the BMC did not take any action,” said Subodh Jadhav.

According to Kale, the BMC had planned to demolish the structure in 2009, but the owner of the structure moved the court and secured a stay on demolition.

“Meanwhile, as the BMC can’t demolish the structure which is causing trouble, we will check the water and the area and undertake whatever safety measure we can,” said Kale.