The recent report on desertification due to mining and deforestation, states that while Rajasthan and Gujarat are at roughly around 72%, Goa is nearly 52 % desertified. What does this mean? Goa has more than 700 square kilometres of land under mining. Construction activity is also on the rise. This means that in the last few years because of massive loss of tree cover, the land in Goa has degraded, there has been habitat loss, lower percolation of rain water and this has caused depletion of groundwater. And the report further states that by the year 2030, Goa will not have enough ground water!
Now let us understand where our water comes from? Nearly 71% of the earth is covered with water. Of this we know that 97% is found in oceans and therefore salty. Only 3% is drinkable but 2% is locked up in ice caps and glaciers. Only 0.62% is available as ground water because 0.009% is available in freshwater lakes. And finally our rivers provide 0.001% of fresh water. Now the small percentage of groundwater that we use, nearly 80%, is already polluted. So do we have an answer to where our water will come from in a few years from now?
What is happening to Goa’s environment today? What is happening to Goa’s land and its rivers? Land is getting converted. And mind you this is not land in urban areas. Increasingly large tracts of agricultural land are getting converted via rushed amendments to the building regulation code. Forests are getting burnt. This was unheard of in Goa. This summer the number of forest fires reported was more than in the entire decade. The pace of development witnessed today is like never before. More people from cities are migrating to Goa and building second homes, permanent homes and retirement homes. The pressure on land is so much that Goa is seeing a high number of land registrations being done every day where new buyers are purchasing for either second homes or permanent homes which are also put to commercial use. To build one needs water. To use a building one needs water.
With the high influx of tourists at nearly five times the population annually and the migration for permanent residence in Goa, what is happening to Goa’ s resources, particularly water, the amount of wastes generated and how do we cope?
We all know about the Mhadei river saga which is the main river of Goa. It feeds both the Mandovi and the Zuari. It is currently being diverted by the Karnataka government. How will this impact Opa water works and the Selaulim dam that provides piped water supply to all of Goa? Further to this, with climate and weather patterns changes, we are experiencing a change in the monsoon cycles. The amount of rainfall and the rainwater that is collected in freshwater lakes and percolation that impacts the groundwater is affected. There will be less and less water to use and drink! Yes it is and will be a major crisis, isn’t it?
Now let’s look at the building industry and the current trend of gated communities, small developments and individual homes being built with swimming pools! Gated communities with common facilities such as a pool, gyms, gardens, etc may seem justified. But where will the water for all its users come from and where will the water for the swimming pool come from? Even if one harvests rainwater to use in the pool over the dry months, due to evaporation and other factors this may not last beyond a few months.
Today everybody wants a pool. So people building individual homes too want a pool. Perhaps because it will have better resale value. Maybe every new owner of land in Goa is like a tourist who is familiar with hotels and commercial facilities and therefore feels the need for this as a luxury. It’s really a terrible trend and one that will have a catastrophic outcome.
What will happen if every new house today builds a pool? This would mean usage of public water supply and gated colonies are already facing a shortage evident from the long line of tanker trucks that bring well water from the nearby wells from the villages and suburbs. Today, instead of wells, people are installing bore wells. What is the difference? Wells for fresh water tap the water from underground springs that are at the depth of 5metres to 10 to 15metres below the ground level. Wells allow for rain water to feed into them and help in replenishing the groundwater table during the monsoons. Bore wells tap groundwater that is at a depth of more than 30 to 40metres deep here in Goa. Recently I had participants for one of the spring walks in Panjim and they were from other cities in India. One from Delhi mentioned that bore wells are drilled in Delhi to a depth of 300 metres because anything less than that has contaminated water! But can we apply this to our small state of Goa? Will we see Goa in a few years full of swimming pools? And what use are swimming pools, if we have no water to put into them?
This brings us to the last question. Why does one need a swimming pool in the first place? Goa is blessed with water bodies. Beaches full of waves and the vast sea, rivers, backwaters and lakes, springs and waterfalls too. As a child, we would be in these water bodies everyday come rain or shine! During the pandemic, we were visiting each of these each day to swim, play and dive. If we all reconnect with these ecological hotspots, we will not feel the need for swimming pools full of chlorinated water. There are alternatives. Biopools, living waters, natural blues! And above all, what is critical is to catch all the water where it falls. Save, save and save water! But again, if there are no monsoons, what will we catch?
(Tallulah D’ Silva is an Architect and silver awardee of the Golden Door Award 2020 for truth and integrity)
