'Sweet' water may cause diseases fears Mumbai

Update at 1500 hrs:
Fearing an outbreak of gastroenteritis and other water-borne diseases in the wake of thousands rushing to Mahim beach here to taste the supposedly 'sweet' sea water, authorities today said they are keeping a tight vigil on all medical institutions and hospitals in the city.

"We are keeping a round-the-clock vigil on all hospitals in the city and suburbs, including peripheral medical institutions, for any case of gastroenteritis as we have to be prepared for a possible outbreak of water-borne diseases," S J Damble, joint commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), said.

"Luckily, so far no case of has been reported. The acute cases should have come within four to 10 hours of drinking the water and there is no report of any chronic case." Thousands of people have thronged Mahim beach since Friday night following reports that sea water there had turned "sweet". However, the MCGM and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board yesterday said that this was not an unusual phenomenon and cautioned people against drinking the sewage contaminated sea water.

Despite the official explanations, people collected murky water in bottles and plastic bags to take it home due to their ignorance, Damble said.

Children and women drank the 'holy' water on the beach. MCGM's Chief Executive Health Officer J Thanekar said the corporation is yet to receive a bacterial report on the 'sweet water'.

Quoting officials of the National Insititute of Oceanography, Thanekar said, "It could be possible that contamination in the water might have been reduced due to the waters from Mithi river flowing into the mouth of Mahim Bay."

Update at 1700 hrs on 19th August:
Hundreds of city residents thronged Mahim beach following reports of sea water turning sweet even as Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and government agencies cautioned on Saturday against drinking water from the creek.

Even as people began coming to the beach in large numbers since Friday night to taste the 'miracle', government agencies, including Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, tested the water samples and warned it was 'unfit' for drinking.

"The samples show that the water is highly unfit to drink. It contains very low levels of salt, which could be the reason for it tasting sweet. We would advise people not to drink the water," BMC sources told PTI.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, too, appealed to the people not to drink the water as it could contain 'dangerous substances'.

Explaining the phenomenon, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board has said it could be an upsurge of ground water, which is caused due to heavy rainfall in the area. "Due to heavy rainfall in the area, the ground water gets fully charged and may exert excess pressure. This can cause fine cracks in the rocky bottom through which ground water tends to come out," Dilip Boralkar, member secretary of the MPCB, said.

"Fresh water being lighter than sea water will float on the surface and may taste relatively sweeter. Normally, sea water is low in salinity during the monsoon because of the continuous rainfall in the area. This year, we have had heavy rains in Mumbai and ground water being fully charged may be the cause," he added.