NOIDA: Amidst the chaos over arbitrary and inflated water bills issued by the Noida Authority,
a question has been raised over the poor quality of water being
supplied to residents. According to doctors, the water supplied to
residents in Noida is essentially hard and prolonged exposure to it can
lead to health hazards such as skin disease, eczema
and loss of hair. Moreover, residents say that apart from the inflated
water bills that have been thrust at them by the Authority, lakhs of
rupees are spent annually by them on maintaining water systems.

Periodic tests conducted by the health department have revealed that
water samples in different areas of the city are often lacking in
chlorine. Sources in the health department said that the chlorination of
water done by the Authority, to make it unviable for the breeding of
germs leading to various epidemics, is not sufficient. “The lack of
chlorination has led to water in Noida becoming ideal breeding grounds
for diseases such as malaria,” said a senior health official.

Residents also complain that in spite of being charged abnormal sums of
money in their bills, the water provided to them is too salty to drink.
Lakhs of rupees are spent every year by residents to clean the water
using their own purification system. “A white layer gets accumulated
over bathroom fittings and even utensils. Corrosion of iron pipes and
discolouring of clothes are also common problems that we face due to the
hardness of water,” said Kiran Gulati, a resident of Sector 28. “For a
while now, I have developed dryness of skin and hair fall and my doctor
says this might have been caused by the persistent use of hard water,”
she added.

Hard water can be especially irritating for those who
already suffer from skin conditions like dermatitis. “The water quality
in Noida is hard and initially people face a number of dermatological
problems since their skin is not used to this. Most frequent and common
complaints include rashes, dryness and scaling of skin and in some
severe cases, eczema. It also leads to dry scalp and hair fall,” said Dr
Sunil Mam, dermatologist, Fortis Hospital, Noida.

Meanwhile,
residents claim that despite repeated complaints to the Authority, the
problem persists. “The hardness and quality of water differ from sector
to sector and it seems that whenever we complain, the Authority
increases the supply of Ganga water for some days. Most residents have
switched to water purifiers and many new residential societies have
installed common RO systems to get rid of the problem of hard water,”
said NP Singh, president, Federation of Noida Residents’ Welfare
Association.

The Noida Authority, however, has consistently claimed that while the groundwater in the township is hard, it is not unsafe.