TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
PONDA: Residents at Konem-Farmagudi have resorted to an unusual test to resume consumption of water from a well that was contaminated with diesel for about eight months.
The residents recently released fresh water fish in the well and after verifying that the fish was still alive, decided that the water was fit for consumption.
It may be recalled that on October 31, 2012, a woman died while 24 persons were injured when a bus and fuel tanker collided with each other at Konem. The impact was such that the tanker carrying about 12,000 litres of diesel fell into the valley and the diesel seeped into low-lying areas.
According to reports, about 8,000 litres of diesel was pumped into another tanker, but vast quantities of diesel had already seeped into the ground.
“Initially, we did not realized but after few days a thin layer of diesel was visible on the surface of the well water, making it unusable,” Kamalakant Satarkar from Konem told Herald.
Satarkar said there about 20 houses and every house has a well in the area. “Two wells were contaminated due to seepage of diesel. We are totally dependent on these wells and during these seven months we had a tough time. We managed to bring water from the spring, located about 100 metres away, and even faced hardships to irrigate our areca-nut plantation,” informed Satarkar.
According to information, PWD on two occasions made unsuccessful attempts to clean the well by pumping out the water.
“We were forced to apply for water connection due to water contamination problem. A pipeline has been installed, but we are yet to get water connection,” added Satarkar.
Left with little options and with heavy rains in the area, the residents then hit upon an unusual idea to determine if the well water was fit for consumption or not.
“Before consuming water, we had released fresh water fish into the well. All are alive and hence, we felt that that the water was safe for consumption,” said Satarkar.
He admitted that there was no chemical analysis conducted to ascertain the quality of the well water.
When contacted, an officer of the PWD accepted the possibility that impurities in water caused due to diesel seepage could have been cleared due to the rains, but insisted that proper tests need to be conducted to ascertain if the water is safe for drinking or not.
“The water table rises and there is continuous flow of water during rains. However it is best to get a chemical analysis done before using the water. The residents concerned can write to Panjim head office of the PWD and get the water tests done,” the PWD officer said.
