Can drink Upper Lake water sans RO, says mayor; critics disagree

Bhopal: Bhopal mayor Malti Rai on Tuesday inspected the Arera Hills water filtration plant and assured residents that water supplied from the Upper Lake (Bada Talab) is safe for drinking without RO purification. To underscore confidence, she drank a glass of treated water on-site, joined by BJP corporator Ravindra Yati and others.

The inspection followed rising complaints of low water pressure and concerns about contamination during the summer. Laboratory checks conducted in the NABL-accredited facility showed that treated water met or exceeded prescribed standards for pH, TDS, turbidity, and bacterial safety.

BMC officials briefed the mayor that all major sources — Upper Lake, Kolar Dam, Kerwa Dam, and the Narmada project — currently hold sufficient reserves. They acknowledged, however, that power outages occasionally disrupt pumping, leading to temporary low-pressure supply until systems are restarted.

Beyond the symbolic gesture of drinking filtered water, the scale of maintenance work highlights the fragility of the system. Since January 1, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation has repaired 5,610 pipeline leaks — an average of 38 per day over 147 days. Officials also reported testing more than 20,000 water samples and cleaning over 15,000 sewage chambers during the same period.

While the mayor’s declaration aims to reassure residents and reduce reliance on costly RO systems, critics argue that contamination risks persist at the distribution level. Pipeline leaks, storage tank hygiene and localised infrastructure failures remain potential weak points.

For households, the message is clear: water leaving the plant is clean, but vigilance at the tap is essential.