The announcement by Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant of 16,000 litres of potable water free per month to every household appears to have caught the engineers of the Public Works Department, except for the Principal Chief Engineer, by surprise. Herald’s efforts to discover details of the proposal met a blank wall as the staff of the department claimed surprise a day after the announcement, though they said it is doable by September 1, as declared by the Chief Minister. What they did not guarantee is regular water supply, which perhaps is what the people of Goa want more than a freebie in the form of free water, that in reality will not lead to any large savings. As per calculations, the savings per month per household will be less than Rs 100. Today, a litre of petrol costs more than that.
The reason to provide free water up to 16 cubic metres per month is to stop wastage as it is hoped that people would then use water judiciously fearing that they would have to pay a high rate, once they cross the 16,000 litres free per month ceiling. There are, however, other issues here that require to be discussed. Currently the loss to the government from this freebie has been pegged at Rs 11.50 crore, while the saving to the common man is at below Rs 100 a month. In such a case, if the savings to the people are going to be almost negligible and the loss to the government will run into a crores of rupees, is such a move even advisable against the backdrop of falling revenues?
The general consensus among the people is that the government must first streamline the water supply management in the State before offering it free to the consumers. The reasoning is that Goans never asked for free water supply, what they want is proper water supply with adequate pressure so that it reaches all the villages. Here’s what the people suggest – plug the wastage of water and have uninterrupted water supply or at the very least increase the supply hours. The complaints of not receiving adequate water supply are many, and so too of people spending on paying the high rates charged by private tanker suppliers to meet their water needs. Wouldn’t it be advisable to have proper supply before promising it for free?
Regular water supply, promised multiple times in the past has been a pipedream. In July 2013, then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had said that most people in the State would get 24×7 water supply by 2014. It hasn’t happened yet and it is not achievable in the near future as Goa does not have the infrastructure and systems required for this. That would perhaps be more important than free water to households, but the breakdowns at the pumping stations, the bursting of pipelines will not allow it to happen. There are too many snags to make regular water supply a reality. Under the circumstances, free water is an easier promise that only requires the change on tariff slabs.
For that matter, free water was a promise made earlier but had never materialised. Now there is a date for it to happen and it is in less than two weeks from now. Though the engineers of the Public Works Department, with the exception of the Principal Chief Engineer may have displayed surprise at the announcement, they are certain in can be done. Just how many people it will benefit remains to be seen as this will only help households with individual water meters. Complexes with a common meter which collect water in a common sump and then pump it to blocks from where it goes to apartments, will not gain.
