The quality of drinking water in several urban pockets of Puducherry has deteriorated further in the last two to three years, residents claim.
Marguerita Helene, 70, a resident of Rainbow Nagar, said drinking water quality is poor in her locality. “The quality of drinking water started deteriorating 10 or 12 years ago. At a point of time, we could not consume water supplied by the municipality. The water turned completely saline from 2010. Then, we opted for RO. After repeated complaints, the municipal authorities said the Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the water had crossed 2,000 parts per million (ppm) and the authorities said they have started mixing water from other localities to bring down the TDS level before supplying it to Rainbow Nagar,” Ms. Helene said.
In the last two to three years, the water has become even more hard and salty, said V. Ramakanthan, a resident of Krishna Nagar, adding that food, especially rice, cooked in the water tastes different. “Food also does not get cooked properly. Many of my family members complain of hair loss and doctors have said substandard water used for bathing could result in hair loss and skin diseases,” he said.
The officials of the Public Works Department said the quality of water sourced from around 200 borewells in Puducherry and Oulgaret Municipality limits and supplied to households through around 35 main overhead tanks has started deteriorating.
The findings of a study conducted by the Public Health Lab of PWD in 2019 indicated alarming rise in TDS level. The study showed TDS level going up to 5,800 ppm (a measurement to find the amount of minerals and gases dissolved in water) in Rainbow Nagar. In 2015, test results of water sample collected from Rainbow Nagar, showed TDS levels in the range of 3,000 ppm. The result implies that deterioration in water quality was taking place at a rapid pace, said an official.
The 2019-study showed, TDS level between 3,000 ppm to 4,000 ppm in places, such as Muthialpet, Krishna Nagar, Venketa Nagar, Sundanthirapon Vizha Nagar and above 2,000 ppm in many other places.
Permissible limit
The acceptable range of TDS for drinking water is 500 ppm, the official said. Even in places where acute water shortage was reported, the permissible limit was only 2,000 ppm. “Anything beyond 2,000 ppm is not consumable. There could be health risk if consumed for a long time,” said an official in the PH division.
The deterioration in quality of drinking water, said P. Sivakumar, a resident of Vaithikuppam, was a serious issue. Mr. Sivakumar, who has got a TDS meter installed in his flat, said the test conducted on Thursday showed a TDS level of 3,100 ppm. “When we moved to Puducherry in late 1990s, the quality of water was good. Now, it has gone down gradually. Water is available and that has to be made consumable for people. Personally, I feel the issue has to be taken up by experts and a thorough study has to be done on how to address the issue. It has to be taken more seriously by the government,” he said.
A senior official said the government was seized of the matter. “Now what we do is, we mix the water from a borewell having very high TDS level with water drawn from another borewell having very low TDS level. But that is not a long term solution,” he said. The government is working on a plan to dig new borewells in far off rural areas, probably in the beds of Malattar, Guduvayar and Pannayar. “A new proposal has been sent to the government. We plan to dig 84 new borewells and bring water to the town for piped water supply. Once the new borewells become functional, all the existing wells near the coastal area will become defunct, he said. The French Development Agency had agreed to provide a loan assistance of ₹454 crore for the project, he added.