Nashik Municipal Corporation has intensified water-supply and health measures in Dattanagar, Ambad, after residents reported yellowish borewell water and a rise in skin-related ailments. The civic body made 50 tanker trips, installed five storage tanks and advised residents not to use borewell water for drinking or domestic purposes between October 9 and 14.
The measures were taken following directions from guardian minister Girish Mahajan and municipal commissioner Manisha Khatri. An NMC official said 50 upgraded water connections had already been provided, while work was under way on another 120 connections for housing clusters that were drawing water through inadequate municipal links.
The official said a 1,029-metre water pipeline had been laid under the AMRUT 2.0 scheme. The remaining work was expected to be completed by Thursday evening. NMC has also restored water supply during the morning schedule after residents raised concerns about access to regular municipal water.
The civic body is sealing contaminated borewells and conducting awareness drives on the risks associated with polluted groundwater. Officials said the new municipal connections were being sized according to the number of households in each housing cluster, rather than relying on connections that were insufficient for local demand.
The emergency water measures followed reports from several Dattanagar pockets of yellowish borewell water and skin-related health problems. At a special health camp organised by NMC at Tuljabhavani Temple on Wednesday, 149 residents underwent medical screening. Of these, 90 were diagnosed with skin ailments.
NMC said 62 of the affected residents had moderately severe symptoms, 26 had mild symptoms and two had severe skin conditions. All those diagnosed were provided free medicines and treatment at the camp. The figures establish the scale of cases screened by the civic body but do not, by themselves, establish the cause of each illness.
The incident has placed the reliability of local water connections and the safety of groundwater under immediate scrutiny. For residents dependent on borewells, the advisory against using that water for drinking or household purposes makes the tanker supply, storage tanks and accelerated pipeline work the main short-term safeguards.
NMC will hold another health camp at Tuljabhavani Temple on Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm for continued monitoring and treatment of affected residents. The civic body’s immediate next steps are to complete the remaining AMRUT 2.0 pipeline work, expand upgraded household connections, seal contaminated borewells and maintain emergency water supplies.
