Anil Kumar Mishra
anilkumar@herald-goa.com
PORVORIM: Despite the government's rosy promises on adequate water supply, residents across Porvorim and Socorro have accepted the bitter reality that piped water is indeed a pipe dream for many of them. As their taps stay dry for months, residents have been compelled to rely on age-old wells or are forced to shell out thousands for tankers.
Senior journalist and Porvorim resident Sigmund de Souza, said, “There is no proper water supply system. Different areas of Porvorim have different problems. Some people are receiving little water, while others like us are not. Our area has been completely dry for the last two months. However, slum dwellers, who are the vote banks, are receiving water, and honest taxpayers like us are not. I fail to understand the logic behind this.”
“We are forced to purchase water from tankers. A tanker of 7,000 litres capacity costs around Rs 1,000. This water lasts for a week, which means we have to shell out around Rs 4,000 every month. My main concern is that we have no idea whether the tanker water is treated or not. We do not know what will happen if there is an epidemic. That is why the government has to work overtime to ensure that treated water is supplied to the people,” he said.
Sigmund said it was very disheartening that despite lodging complaints, the authorities are just giving excuses and have failed to find a solution to the problems faced by the people.
Dhananjay Borkar, another resident, said, “There is only a trickle of tap water supply. This has been going on for around six months. It started after road work and due to the laying of underground cables. At many places, water pipes have been damaged as the contractors carry out works using earthmovers.”
Alleging that the water pipelines are damaged repeatedly due to a nexus between the contractors and officials from the Public Works Department (PWD), he demanded the contractors engaged in the road works be replaced with the ones with a clean image.
Farida Vishal Bandekar, a resident of Sapna Gardens, said, “Water supply in our area is very bad. Our housing society is solely dependent on water from tankers. It’s been nearly a month since we last got tap water. The society has 175 flats and 33 shops and the number of tankers ranges from five to 10.”
Cecil Pinto, another local from the area, said, “We have been using well water for many years as the water supply has been irregular and unreliable. We are dependent on well water to meet our daily consumption and other needs.”
John Vaz from Socorro said, “Water supply is irregular and on alternative days.”
Bosco Eremita Souza, another resident, said, “We cannot rely on this government. It has sold Vagheri Hills. It has failed to stop diversion of Mhadei water.”
Eurico Mascarenhas said, “To be honest, only this week we started receiving water. There was no water for the past 20 days. But what is surprising is that at some places water gets wasted. There are still many people who are still suffering and are not receiving water on a regular basis.”
PWD sources attributed the water shortage in some of the areas to the ongoing road and underground cabling works, which is damaging the water pipelines.