Three days after 96 residents of Westend Heights condominium in DLF 5 reported sick with symptoms of nausea and vomiting, prompting the health department to collect water samples to check for contamination, the report of the water bacteriological lab at civil hospital has found that the water samples collected from a storage tank and a flat in the society are unfit for consumption.
Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurgaon district, said, “The samples from two sources were found unfit for consumption and a report has been sent to concerned civic authorities and district administration for further action.”
Priti Anand, secretary, RWA of the society, said that the health department report, which suggested some kind of bacteria, was a little vague.
“The report does not separately specify the source, whether it was tube well or corporation water, and the complete report has not been shared with us. We have sought clarity on the same. We took samples from 10 sources including from overhead tanks in four towers, underground tanks, swimming pool, HUDA water, tubewells and got them tested from an ISO approved private lab. The lab report says there is no trace of the bacteria and all parameters are fine except the TDS level is high in tubewell water, though in permitted limits. We are now getting tests done from two different agencies to get clarity,” she said.
She added that the residents were still dependent on bottled water and the society is coordinating with the agencies to solve the matter.
Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) officials said that they had collected samples of the water being supplied by GMDA to the society’s underground tanks and samples of the water supplied from the internal storage tanks to the households and from nearby societies, whose results are awaited.
“We have found that the TDS (total dissolved solids) value of the water supplied internally by the society is higher than the TDS value of GMDA water, which indicates the mixing of water from other sources. The survey on the master water supply lines of GMDA leading towards the area concerned has been completed, but no source of any contamination has been found. Perhaps, the issue of contamination can take place in the underground or overhead storage tanks of the society or it may lie in the mixing of borewell water installed in the society premises. Additionally, it could be due to lack of use of any kind of disinfection to the stored water before supplying the same to the residents,” said Abhinav Verma, executive engineer, Infrastructure 2, GMDA.
Earlier on Friday, the health department had received 205 complaints from the society with the department confirming that 96 residents, with symptoms of vomiting and nausea, were given medicine. A two-year-old child was admitted to a hospital and later discharged.
