GAURESH SATTARKAR
In a striking iro ny, residents of Sanguem’s Talsai village—rehabili tated decades ago to make way for the Salaulim dam project—are facing a severe water crisis, despite their constituency MLA heading the Department of Drink ing Water. While the State government promises 24×7 treated water supply across Goa, this interior village of around 100 people re mains cut off from the main pipeline system. Desperate locals have demanded im mediate government inter vention as they are forced to consume contaminated, black, and rust-coloured water from collapsing wells and failing borewells. The residents said that during the tenure of former MLA Prasad Gaonkar, water pipelines were laid in the village. However, after the change in leadership, they claim the present MLA Sub hash Phal Dessai has failed to provide household water connections despite several requests over the last year. Many villagers are shocked that Talsai is lo cated adjacent to the catch ment area of the Salaulim dam, near the famous Someshwar temple.
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Vil lagers say they remained in the area to protect their deity and temple, but even after decades they are still deprived of basic drinking water facilities. “We have remained here and never left this place because of our temple and our god. We have been liv ing here for many years and for all past many years we are forced to drink this dirty water due to the non-clean ing of wells. In our village, we do not even have drink ing water taps. There are two wells in the village and both have now become very dirty. We informed our sar panch and MLA many times, but they only give assur ances and are not carrying out any repair work. Both wells are completely spoiled and one well is even on the verge of collapse, but no one is looking towards our problems. We drink this wa ter and fall sick, but nobody worries about us. There is also borewell water, but that comes only for 10 min utes and even that water is black in colour,” said Datta raj Gaonkar, a resident. “We are rehabilitation families and have made many sacrifices. When Pras ad Gaonkar was the MLA, pipelines were laid in the village, but after that no one looked into completing the work ,” said Govind Gaonkar, another local. We repeatedly urged our MLA Subhash Phal Dessai, but he only gives assurances and is not carrying out the work.
Water tanker comes to the village sometimes, but the water is not enough for all of us. The water is not even good for cooking, but still we are forced to use it for cooking purposes. The government must look into the problems of our village,” said Govind Gaonkar, another local. Residents also face poor road conditions and lack of streetlights. Women from the village say travelling at night has become risky due to damaged roads and movement of wild animals in the area. “There are many problems in the village, including roads, street lights and water, which has become a major issue for us. Our village is located just adjacent to the backside of the Salaulim dam, but despite that we are still struggling for clean drinking water.
As a housewife, I face many difficulties while cooking food. When we use this water, even the taste of the food becomes different. Sometimes the bore well water, which comes only for 10 minutes, also comes out black in colour. The government must provide us clean water by giving water tap connections to every house and by cleaning all the wells in the village,” said Suman Gaonkar, another resident. Locals claim they are forced to call for water tankers at times, but even that supply is insufficient for all families. Some residents say the contaminated water is affecting their health, with people developing boils and skin-related problems, and that the water is not fit even for cooking purposes. Village women alleged that they have received only assurances from elected representatives, but no permanent solution has been provided till now.
