Samples of Powai lake water sent for testing

Mumbai . Friday, July 2, 2010 . Page 5

A day after a crocodile carcass was taken off the banks of Powai lake, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has sent water samples collected from the water body for a quality check.

The samples will be tested at a municipal water testing facility at Bhandup complex, said hydraulic engineer Vinay Deshpande.

He added that some samples have been sent to a laboratory run by the Thane Municipal Corporation for third party audit on the water’s quality.

The eight-foot-long carcass was lying on the banks since Sunday.

The hydraulic department, which owns the property, admitted to the delay in fishing it out. Coordination issues with the forest department were blamed for the delay.

While the results for the samples were expected in four days, Deshpande said, “On first look, it did not seem as if marine life in the lake was affected.”

Some of the local residents had blamed pollution in the water body for the reptile’s death. The civic body is carrying out beautification work in and around the banks. Deshpande, however, refuted the claim. “The beautification work being spoken of was halted before the start of monsoon,” he said.

The precise cause of crocodile’s death, however, will be difficult to ascertain. According to Dr S Jangle from the office of the chief conservator of forest in Thane, no post mortem could be performed as the carcass was highly decomposed.