The rehabilitated residents of Wadem Colony No 1 in Sanguem, who had sacrificed their ancestral land and houses for the construction of Selaulim Dam, are facing acute drinking water shortage since many days.
While on one hand, the Selaulim Dam water quenches the thirst of the people of South Goa, the residents of Wadem Colony No 1, which is barely a few metres away from the reservoir, have been deprived of regular drinking water supply much to their chagrin.
Since the past many days, the water woes faced by the villagers have compounded as they are forced to stay awake at midnight to store water for drinking as the taps water is released only at late night, claimed Joseph Cardozo, a villager.
Though the department had made provisions to supply drinking water to the affected villagers through a tanker, the facility has been stopped since the last two days thereby leaving the locals without drinking water, Cardozo informed.
Inquiries revealed that the villagers since they were rehabilitated to this village, they were provided with water from the lone open well in the area. However, the well water level has reduced drastically since last many days and the villagers are forced to undergo hardship in availing drinking water.
On account of the reduced water level, the well water pumps which were used to supply water to the villagers function barely for two to three hours at a stretch.
However, with the onset of the monsoon, the agricultural water supply, which has been poor, will improve. The drinking water problem will however continue to haunt the villagers for a long time, claim the village elders.
The locals have been demanding that the government set up a 5MLD water treatment plant to solve the drinking water problem in the village. But their demand has fallen on deaf ears.
The villagers have reportedly apprised the Sanguem MLA Prasad Gaonkar of the drinking water problem faced by them. Gaonkar has assured them of a solution at the earliest.
The Wadem Colony No 1 has a population of around 1200 with 450 houses and these families had been rehabilitated from the remote Curdi village after sacrificing all their land to pave way for the construction of the Selaulim Dam.
