Team Herald
PANJIM: The State government has in-principle decided to impose charges three times the notified water tariff on builders who construct residential complexes or houses without approval from the Public Works Department (PWD).
PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral said that several projects are coming up without conducting feasibility studies on water supply. “We will charge buildings without PWD permissions, three times the water tariff. They need to take PWD permission so that we can undertake feasibility on whether water can be supplied to that area or not. We have already taken this decision in-principle,” he said.
Cabral also said that 37 per cent of consumers are getting the benefit of free drinking water. “We have identified these consumers. In Fatorda constituency alone, 35 per cent of consumers are getting free water,” he said.
Replying to a Calling Attention motion, the Minister further said that although as per the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation (CPHEEO), the average per capita consumption for rural areas is 70 litres per capita per day (lpcd), the government is supplying treated water at the rate of 150 lpcd.
“But besides personal consumption, many households are utilising treated water for kitchen gardens, washing cars etc, due to which the consumers at the tail end suffer,” he said.
Congress Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira had raised a concern about irregular water supply to the people of Ponolem, Calvim, Carona, Olaulim, Pomburpa and Ecoxim in Aldona Constituency. He said that the people are often forced to go without water supply for several days at a stretch, with the situation getting worse in the summer. Cabral said that due to the stoppage of raw water from the Tillari Water Supply Scheme, there was a 20% drop in production of treated water, resulting in short supply to the entire Bardez taluka in general, and some localities of Aldona Constituency in particular, which are at the tail end of the water distribution system. He informed the House that to streamline the shortfall of the Tillari raw water supply, the WRD has prepared a master plan to connect Amthane Dam and other local sources to ensure that raw water is available at all times to Bardez taluka and this project is likely to be completed by May 2024.
