Team Herald
PONDA: Fresh water springs that were once responsibly tapped by our predecessors for both domestic and agricultural use are now in a state of disuse and neglect, rue concerned citizens from Ponda. Even as the village panchayats of Ponda taluka have all passed resolutions condemning the diversion of River Mhadei, little is being done to restore and maintain the heritage springs that flow through these villages. As a result, the sweet water from these natural springs ends up flowing into the highly-polluted main nullah in Ponda town, wasted at a time when inter-State disputes are rife over the precious resource. “Across all the panchayats in Ponda, there are water bodies that need to be revived and put to use. Ponda’s main nullah is contaminated due to the mixing of sewage; and all the spring water that flows into it is wasted,” said Sandeep Parkar, an environmentalist from Khandepar. “The Khandepar Village Development Committee recently desilted five water bodies. There needs to be a dedicated fund to undertake the cleaning of springs and erstwhile water sources that are now buried under mud and garbage,” he added.
Damodar Naik from Kavlem said that farmers and locals were utilising spring water for agriculture, washing clothes and even drinking, and they were well-maintained in those times. “After the government issued tap water connections to each and every house three decades ago, the use of water bodies, public and private wells stopped. While several wells have been contaminated due to disuse, some wells have even been covered with mud to make way for construction,” he said.
Kavlem local Nayan Naik recalled that water collected in a mining quarry was pumped into the Opa water treatment plant and supplied to the public in the summer of 2019, due to acute water shortage. “We don’t know how safe the mining pit water is for consumption. Instead, the government needs to desilt our natural water bodies and store water with mini bandharas on internal nullahs, to be used during dry spells,” she said.
