30 public taps misused for nearly a decade and though the pending water bills have shot up to an estimated Rs 10 lakh, little has been done either by the PWD or the MMC to disconnect them
Forget about free drinking water, washing of vehicles has virtually become a free facility in many parts of Vasco, thanks to loopholes in the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) and the PWD department in Vasco.
Believe it or not, 30 such public taps have been misused for nearly 10 years and though the pending water bills have shot up to an estimated Rs 10 lakh, little has been done either by the PWD or the MMC to disconnect those taps.
The decision to remove the public taps had been taken by former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao in 2008, prompting the PWD Water Department to disconnect most public taps in the port town.
However, at least 30 such public taps are still in use in Vasco. Worse still, some of these public taps, especially at Sasmollem Baina and Mangor Hill, have been misused to wash motorcycles, taxis and buses.
While the general public are made to pay high water tariffs for the PWD water they consume, other misuse the public water taps to wash their motorcycles, taxis
and buses free of cost.
“Very often, public taps are left open and precious water is wasted. While we are being charged to use water, these miscreants are left free to misuse the public water taps,” said Sainath Porob of Baina.
Raj Abraham, another resident of Mangor Hill, added: “Early morning, the public tap near Aaambabai Temple is being used to wash taxis and motorcycles, while those staying in buildings are deprived of precious water.”
“It is surprising to note that despite directives of then PWD Minister Churchill Alemao, the water department in Vasco has failed to disconnect all the public taps,” said Abraham.
When contacted, Assistant Engineer, PWD assistant engineer (water department) at Baina, clarified that there are around 30 public water taps still in use, as the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) had assured to pay the water bill.
“Despite an assurance from MMC that they would pay the bill, the MMC has failed to pay the public taps water bill for the last ten years,” Bhende added.
Asked why the PWD had failed to disconnect the public taps when the MMC had not paid the bills, Bhende replied: “The MMC should direct us to do so and only then, the PWD will disconnect the public taps.”
Bhende confirmed that the total water bill for the 30 public taps during the last ten years had been Rs 6 lakh. “With arrears, the bill will cross Rs 10 lakh,” he added.
Asked why the PWD had been lax in allowing the MMC to use the public taps, when disconnection notices are immediately issued to the common man for failing to pay the pending bills, Bhende failed to give any satisfactory answer.
MMC Chief Officer Megnath Porob initially feigned ignorance of the 30 public taps being misused in the town. “The MMC does not have any public taps under our jurisdiction,” said Porob.
But when reminded of the presence of around 30 public taps under the jurisdiction of MMC which have run bills into lakhs of rupees, Porob summoned his officer and sought details from him.
After verifying the records, the MMC officer informed Porob that there are 30 public water taps under the purview of the council, adding that the MMC had written to PWD in 2013 to disconnect that all the 30 taps as MMC could not afford to pay the water bills.
When this was brought to the notice of Bhende, he assured to take up the matter with Porob and accordingly, issue orders to disconnect all the 30 public taps.
To a query on how the PWD would recover their dues, Bhende replied: “We will send the file to the recovery section who will then recover the dues with arrears from the MMC.”
