Prime water, premium doubt: Bhopal tapstouted as best but diarrhoea cases high

BHOPAL: About 200-km away from Indore's water contamination scare, Bhopal's civic body like many others rushed to test its taps. Four consecutive days of sampling and testing -- the results? Sparkling.

Close to 1,000 samples from 400 sites showed TDS levels between 130-172 mg/L - squarely in mineral-water range and far below the BIS safety cap of 500 mg/L. Physical and chemical parameters were balanced, while bacteriological tests found no trace of E.coli. or coliforms.

Test results mirror premium bottled water specifications, sparking questions over whether residents really need costly purifier filters. With piped water supply priced at just Rs 180 a month, why pay Rs 20 a litre for packaged water?




BMC's samples, even from slums, showed mineral grade quality.

Day 1, January 1: the first water quality reports trickled in - handwritten sheets from a single analyst covering about 40 locations.

By Day 2, the reports turned into neat computerized printouts. The uniform handwriting and rows of near-identical numbers gave the early results a copy-paste feel; the digital versions only reinforced the impression of perfection.

Across the board, Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) ranged from 120-161 mg/L, never higher - squarely within the WHO's 'excellent' benchmark for drinking water.

The pH hovered around neutral 7, the definition of pure water (for context, pH 4 equals acid rain, pH 13 equals bleach).

Elsewhere, Delhi's taps run 250-1,200 mg/L, Indore averages 425-1,350, and Gurugram's groundwater spikes past 5,000. By comparison, Bhopal seems to have hit the gold standard.

Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) city engineer Udit Garg insists protocols were followed, even in suspect areas, but cautions the findings represent just 1,000 checks out of 2.7 lakh connections. So is the state capital's tap water better than bottled? Garg won't say no - he simply stands by the reports.

On Tuesday Garg reported that 1,453 water samples-including 347 from slum areas-had been tested, all confirming excellent quality. He further noted that 227 leaks had already been repaired at various sites.

Another report hits closer to home. The State Action Plan for Climate Change & Human Health, Madhya Pradesh (revised 2022) identifies Bhopal as the district with the heaviest diarrhoeal burden.

From 2016 to 2020, the state capital logged 3.8 lakh acute cases, far outpacing Raisen (2.4 lakh) and Morena (1.95 lakh).

In its section on water-borne diseases and adaptation, the plan highlights Bhopal as the epicentre of reported illness, exposing the city's vulnerability even as officials tout "excellent" water quality.