MANDREM: A strange yet sad situation is unfolding at Mandrem. A household there may have a tap, but if the house is not connected to a road, the tap is next to useless.
The constituency is in the throes of a water crisis as public water supply is largely unavailable. Although local MLA Jit Arolkar has deployed water tankers to service all nine panchayat areas, the number of homes in each area far surpasses the number of tankers provided.
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What’s worse is that if any house is not connected by a road, the occupants are forced to walk all the way to the nearest road with empty drums and buckets and then trudge these back after getting them filled by a water tanker.
While campaigning for votes during the state assembly elections, Arolkar had assured to resolve the constituency’s water supply issue. Locals say a 30 MLD dedicated water treatment plant in the area is all that is required, and while work on the project has begun in Tuem, completion will undoubtedly take time.
Presently, Arolkar has been left with no option but to supply water through tankers belonging to the government and through those acquired by his own group, ‘Mandrem Udargat’.
Sources told O Heraldo that low pressure in the water pipelines has led to some households clandestinely using booster pumps, which in turn has affected supply to other areas. Installation and use of booster pumps are illegal and the people have demanded strict action against those flouting the law.
Meanwhile, Arambol panch member Rajani Ibrampurkar has appealed to people to use water judiciously. She has also suggested other remedies such as water harvesting, limited use of borewells, and two audits a year to assess the water requirements.
