Mumbai, July 13 Suffering from a stomach infection, film-maker Hansal Mehta on Thursday pointed fingers at the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the government for not providing safe drinking water to the citizens.
The distressed Mehta took to airing his grievance on social media and tagged along the BMC, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, demanding action.
He cited how he had developed “a terrible stomach infection” on Thursday even before he had eaten, while stating that he has a water purifier at home.
Mehta spoke to his family physician who informed that he is getting at least 10 patients daily with similar symptoms and some were even hospitalised, with the infections ostensibly originating from a bug in the drinking water.
Incidentally, the BMC had in May 2019 announced with great fanfare that Mumbaikars can directly drink tap water and the purity was as high as 99.34 per cent -- comparable to global standards -- as it bagged the ‘Jal Nirmalta Award’ of the Centre (2019-2020).
A peeved Mehta continued that “it is ridiculous that a city that is the financial capital of the country and capital of a state with two Deputy CMs cannot provide basic clean drinking water to its citizens”.
He also brought in the "abysmal condition of the roads, the crippling traffic, the lack of readiness for flooding and the crumbling state of the city infrastructure".
“THIS IS MUMBAI. And it is run by people who just don’t give a damn about its citizens. All they care for is power and filling their own coffers. Shameful state of affairs,” said Mehta, who is often known to give a piece of his mind on various issues.
His tweet sparked a massive debate on the water quality and other issues of not only Mumbai, but also Delhi with many supporting his grouse and some gently advising him to keep cool but ‘boil water’ before drinking.
Mehta is noted for films and web series like 'Shahid', 'Aligarh', 'Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story', 'Scoop' etc.
--IANS
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