Mumbai Mantralaya will undergo water-tank cleaning every 15 days after complaints that contaminated water supplied to officials and employees caused stomach-related illnesses, according to a report by Navbharat Times. Water samples will also be tested regularly, with the results to be shared with employees through WhatsApp groups.
The complaints emerged in July, when employees alleged that contaminated water had been supplied for three consecutive days. Several officials and staff reportedly experienced vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach pain and fever. The flow of patients to the Mantralaya hospital also increased during the episode, the report said.
The administration has now introduced a routine cleaning and testing arrangement for the building’s water tanks. Sachin Kamble, a sub-engineer with the Public Works Department, said the tanks were being cleaned every 15 days and that water samples were being tested regularly. The inspection reports are to be made available to employees through internal WhatsApp groups.
The move follows an earlier water-related health incident at Mantralaya in 2019, when employees had also fallen ill after consuming water supplied at the government secretariat. The latest complaints have therefore revived concerns about the reliability of drinking-water systems inside one of Maharashtra’s most important government workplaces.
According to the report, testing carried out after the recent complaints did not find any major problem in the tanks. However, the administration decided to continue with regular cleaning and sampling after taking the employees’ complaints seriously. The report also said that no further complaints about contaminated water had been received after the new arrangement was introduced.
The issue has a direct operational dimension because officials and employees working in the building are expected to rely on water supplied through the tank system rather than bottled water. Ensuring the quality of that supply requires not only periodic cleaning but also a documented testing process and access to results. The decision to share reports with employees is intended to make the monitoring process more transparent within the building.
Mantralaya is located in Mumbai’s established administrative district and houses offices of ministers and senior government departments. The report also noted that the Chief Minister’s office is expected to shift to the Air India building, with work under way for that relocation. The tank-cleaning and water-testing programme, however, applies to the existing Mantralaya facility.
The Public Works Department’s stated next steps are continued cleaning of the tanks at 15-day intervals, regular testing of water samples and circulation of the findings to employees through WhatsApp groups.
