CANACONA: The Gaunem dam in the tribal dominated Gaondongrim village has proved to be a white elephant as it has not served its purpose, thereby exposing the inefficiency of the Public Works Department (PWD).
The construction of this dam was completed in 2017 at the cost of Rs 21 crore. However, the dam has failed to achieve its purpose of supplying water to the neighbouring village till date.
With a storage capacity of 177 hectare-meter, the dam was supposed to provide 5 million liters of water per day (MLD) thereby addressing the water woes faced by the locals for years.
However, six years after completion, this dam has proven to be yet another instance of woeful wastage of public funds as no relief has been given to the villages.
This dam was supposed to address the water woes of Gaondongrem, Nane, Indrawada, Bharsa, Bhooper, Tudal, Ziltawadi, Satorlim and parts of Cotigao which face acute shortage of water during the summer.
Ironically these areas inhabited largely by the tribal community have had their kinsman representing them in the Assembly for four terms with the present MLA being the speaker of the House.
For the locals who continue to suffer during the summer, the lofty promise of clean and reliable water supply has remained a pipe dream.
The Rs 21 crore spent on its construction could have been better utilised on some other and more productive works for this backward area. This wasteful expenditure of such huge amount is another case of mismanagement and absolute lack of accountability in the administration.
The failure to provide water to the villagers has resulted in further waste of public money on tankers pressed into service to provide water.
Gautam Gaonkar lamented that the local community was not kept abreast of the project as was then promised.
“The lack of transparency has fuelled mistrust and scepticism among the people. The PWD is proving to be incompetent to lay the pipeline to supply water to the villagers,” Gaonkar said.
The lack of transparency has exacerbated the volatile situation as people are truly furious. Tolu Gaonkar from Gaondongrem raising environmental issues said: “With the dam’s reservoir sitting stagnant, it has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects. The local ecology is suffering, and the potential for water contamination increases with each passing day”.
In light of these issues, it is imperative that PWD provide clear and detailed explanations regarding the delays and setbacks surrounding the Gaunem Dam project, said another local Mangesh Gaonkar.
“Accountability must be established, and those responsible for the mismanagement of resources and the prolonged delay should be taken to task”, he said.
Dilip Velip a youngster from Cotigao said the government should initiate a comprehensive and transparent review of this project so that it can become operational as soon as possible.
“It is essential to implement measures to prevent such instances of inefficiency of officials in future,” he said while directly stating that the PWD’s inefficiency is the cause of this colossal waste of public funds.
Interestingly Water Resources Department officials wash off their hands claiming that their responsibility was to only construct the dam, while distribution of water is the responsibility of the Public Works Department.
However, local MLA and Speaker of the Goa Assembly Ramesh Tawadkar assured that the pending land acquisition issue would be resolved by the end of this year and thereafter water from the dam will be supplied to the villages.
PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral agreed that around four problems similar to the Gaunem dam are faced by his department primarily due to land acquisition.
“However, now that the government can acquire land without getting an NOC from the owners if it is for public purpose, this problem will be resolved shortly,” he said.
He lamented that people are ready to curse the government for not providing water but are not willing to give away 500 sq mts of land for a sump and 400 sq mts for an overhead tank.
