According to the government figures, of the 2.60 lakh households in the State, 2.29 lakh have already been provided with household tap connection. This leaves 31,000 households that currently do not have tap connections. The aim of the Har Ghar Jal mission is to provide potable drinking water to every rural household through functional household tap connections by 2024. If Goa meets its deadline then it will be one of first few States to achieve the feat and become 100 per cent Har Ghar Jal State.
We have got four months to achieve this, and given the data that has been profferred it does appear possible. The funds too are available as for Goa in 2020-21 this has been increased from around Rs 3 crore to over Rs 12 crore. It is not, however, enough to ensure that there are taps in every household, the government has to also ensure that water flows from the taps. For, even as the government aims to take taps to every household in the State, there are other issues of water supply and pipelines being ready and yet to be made functional.
Take the case of the PWD water supply pipeline that would bring relief to much of Sada in Vasco and surrounding areas. It has been five years since work on the water supply pipeline has started and it is still not operational. The reason now being proffered for the delay is the COVID-19 pandemic, which arose just five months ago. Is that even believable? It sounds like an excuse that a school student may conceive to explain a delay. The local MLA Milind Naik, who is a minister, admitted that the pipeline is crucial and once it is commissioned areas that have water supply problems will receive a good amount of water. The pipeline is expected to be ready by this year end, its deadline extended until then.
As in the past, we have seen numerous projects, whether it be roads, bridges, buildings or even hospitals, having their deadline extended for various reasons. It is no surprise that the deadline for the pipeline has been extended. That apart, the deadline and assurance that the government has given to the Centre on the Har Ghar Jal mission brings to mind how Goa that had been far ahead of the rest of the country when the Swacch Bharat’s open defecation free programme was launched, finally became the last State to achieve ODF status. This happened as while other States took up the project in all seriousness, Goa lagged behind and finally installed temporary toilets to meet the deadline. We hope that the 100 per cent tap water project doesn’t face a similar situation.
A little over two months ago in late June, PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar had announced that every household in the State will be provided with a tap and potable drinking water facility 24 hours of the day by end of 2024. His explanation was that all the ongoing projects would be completed by the end of 2022 and this would help solve the drinking water problems faced in many parts of the State. Earlier governments had promised 24 hour water supply in Goa by 2018. That year has long passed and we are still awaiting it, even as the deadline has now been further extended to 2024. When announcing deadlines, the government must take all factors into consideration, as otherwise they just get extended. We wait to see taps in every household by the end of 2020.
