In a special summer drive carried out by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in April, health officials collected samples of ice, lemon juice, and sugarcane juice from local vendors. The test reports have revealed that nearly 81% of these samples were contaminated and thus unfit for consumption.

The drive was carried out from A ward to T ward during which the officials collected 280 samples of lemon juice, 303 samples of sugarcane juice, and 385 samples of crushed ice. Of these, 218 lemon juices, 268 sugarcane juices, and 300 ice samples were found to be contaminated.

BMC’s executive health officer Dr. Padmaja Keskar said they found E Coli bacteria in the majority of the samples. General physician Dr. Hemant Gupta said water contamination can cause hepatitis E, which can prove life-threatening. “Most commonly, those who have contaminated water may suffer from diarrhoea, vomiting etc.,” he said, adding if not treated, a severe form of these symptoms can be fatal too.

In March, video footage of a lemon juice vendor making the drink in a unhygienic way was shot by a railway commuter in Kurla. The video went viral and the vendor was fined ₹5 lakh by the Central Railway. This incident triggered many special drives by the BMC’s health department and the Food and Drug Administration to check on the hygiene aspects in food and drinks sold by roadside vendors and those on the premises of railway stations.