BMC upgrades food and water testing lab

Mumbai: Keeping the health and safety concerns in mind, the BMC has now made its food and water testing laboratories more advanced. The result of the test will be given within 24 hours through email and WhatsApp. The test is also kept at a nominal price. The Municipal Analyst Laboratory located at the ‘G North’ Ward Office in Dadar tests more than 70,000 water and food samples every year.

“Citizens and commercial establishments should avail the services of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s Municipal Analyst Laboratory to check the quality of water and food,” said the Additional Municipal Commissioner Prajakta Lavangare Verma.

The Municipal Analyst Laboratory dates more than a century old as it was started in 1903 under the Public Health Department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. In the last 10 years, more than seven lakh water and food samples have been tested at this laboratory. The BMC’s laboratory in Dadar is the only laboratory operated by the civic body for testing food and water samples.

It regularly tests water sent by the BMC’s Water Supply Department. The laboratory is also used to inspect and check the quality of the midday meals provided to schools in Mumbai. Police stations also send certain prohibited items like supari, tobacco and scented tobacco to the laboratory. Around 70,000 tests are conducted every year in the laboratory.

Railways such as the Western Railways, Central Railways and Konkan railways send food items and water samples to the Municipal Analyst Laboratory. Due to the use of advanced equipment and technology, this laboratory has been granted the status of a State Food Laboratory by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). The BMC has undertaken a laboratory upgradation project to enable more detailed analysis and additional testing through the laboratory. The BMC ensures that the laboratory is always upgraded and makes sure there is more detailed and additional testing.

Verma said, “From the perspective of citizens’ health, it is essential that both food and water are available in a quality manner. For this purpose, upgrading the laboratory is necessary for conducting more analytical and detailed tests. The objective is to ensure that a laboratory with international-level standards and testing capabilities remains continuously available for Mumbaikars.”

She added, “Facilities for testing food and water are available at very nominal rates in the laboratory. Citizens, housing societies, food-selling establishments, and other commercial establishments should make extensive use of this facility so that the quality of the food and water available with them can be ensured.”