Goa annually receives more than 120 inches of rain most of which is allowed to flow into the Arabian Sea.
During summer people in Goa mostly rely on water from dams and the water treatment plants face acute water shortage due to the increasing demand of population and industries.
A source said it is surprising that the government is claiming treatment of plant on one hand but doesn’t encourage harvesting of water during monsoons.
One government engineer on condition of anonymity said that in fact many Government officials have no proper rain water management policy which leads to shortages in summer season. Even the Industrial Estates Units consume treated water supplied by government which bears heavy cost of treating it.
Interviews with some nature and environment-friendly people it was revealed that every house in Goa can be self reliant if rain water is harvested.
Herald found one ideal person for Goans who doesn’t rely on government supplied water. A specialised dentist does not used tap water throughout the year but instead prefers to use the rain water he harvests during monsoons.
Dr Deelip Bandekar’s dental clinic situated on a hilltop at Khadpabandh planned to harvest rain water in the basement when he constructed his clinic nine years back.
While most of the people prefer to use the space for parking or storing goods, this doctor built a sump to harvest the rain water. This basement spread around 100 sq mts with height of 2.8 metres can store 2.8 lakh litres of water which he uses throughout the year for drinking, gardening, washing and for all purposed
Dr Deelip’s family, originally from Bandora but residing for past many decades in Panjim, returned to their roots and renovated their old traditional house at Bandora recently using mud and bricks which have natural cooling system.
According to Dr Deelip he allows the rain water to flow and clean the roof for 15 days and then begin harvesting the water.
The water stored in the basement tank which has a cemented floor is then pumped out for gardening and for domestic consumption. The rain water remains clean for two years, claim the doctor.
“God has given us free water, rain, air, earth and we should make the best use of them. Many of us have the land, the buildings to harvest rain water and everyone can harvest water,” said Dr Deelip.
An Engineer on the condition of anonymity said, “We have plenty of wells, springs, lakes and nullhas that flow throughout the year. If Government adopts a scheme all the villages can be set up with treatment plant at water source and the water can then be supplied to local villagers. The government has no proper water management policy and the will power.”
According to Architect Kamlakar Sadhle who is founder member of Nirmal Vishwa, a NGO working for environment, said: “We get plenty of rainfall and rain water harvesting is not a difficult task. We only use three per cent of rainfall in Goa and rest 97 per cent flows into Arabian Sea. If we allow the rain water to infiltrate into the soil we will not face water shortage throughout the year.”
When contacted the Ponda Water Resource Department said there is no scheme or subsidies at individual level to harvest the rain water. Only one Industrial Unit at Kundai is harvesting rain water. Recently MRF Company at Usgao applied permission for rain water harvesting plant in its unit which WRD has to inspect before giving permission.
