TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
PONDA: Unhappy with PWD authorities for having disconnected their water connections, residents of Amadi-Keri on Tuesday appealed to the State government to stop the discriminatory treatment being meted out to them.
They now suspect that they are being targeted by politicians after having successfully led an agitation to close down a stone (gravel) crushing site in the area.
Addressing a news conference in Amadi, aggrieved residents claimed that they have been subjected to severe hardship since the last seven to eight years.
“Of the several houses in the area, 14 houses have been allegedly subjected to discriminatory treatment by the PWD. They never supply us with tanker water on daily basis and to add insult to injury, the PWD recently began disconnecting our water connections after issuing us with exorbitant bills ranging from Rs 3000 to Rs 4000,” complained a resident, Gokuldas Amadkar.
“Hundreds of people living in Keri receive water from tankers, but only 14 houses have been receiving huge water bills. We are being harassed by government authorities and politicians since the last one year as we led an agitated last year and forcibly closed down one stone (gravel) crushing unit.
The aggrieved residents felt that their water woes could have been resolved if storage tank was constructed atop a hill at Kerim or if a high pressure pipeline was connected directly to the main pipe line passing from Priol constituency.
“But the government has not done anything so far,” said a resident.
The residents recalled that they were never dependent on tap water in the past as they would receive ample water supply from the various springs in the area.
“But our water supply dried up when the stone crushing unit commenced its activities atop the hill and went deeper into the earth. Now, the lone water source in the area is a well, which is on the verge of drying up,” said another resident.
According to some women residents, water tankers reach their area only once a week, but the 10,000 litres of water is insufficient to meet the water needs of the affected families.
