The State has been facing higher-than-average temperatures in recent days with the mercury soaring along with humidity levels. There have been weather warnings that Goa may witness heat waves this summer. The Directorate of Health Services, IMD and State Disaster Management Authority have issued an advisory asking people to remain hydrated with the heat expected to pile on.
Amid the scorching heat over Goa, water shortage would be the last thing that any resident would want and a 50 per cent drop in water levels at four dams sounds alarming although the WRD Minister Subhash Shirodkar says there is enough water to last till May-end. While the minister tries to assuage fears, the ground scenario only adds to the anxiety.
In Mapusa and Siolim residents have been grappling with water cuts for two or more days with some in Siolim relying on tanker supply for the past two weeks. In places like Chapora, Assagao, Anjuna, Porvorim, Velsao, Majorda, Utorda and several other villages the scene is no different with water supply being inconsistent. Goa still has a long summer ahead giving locals across water scarcity-hit places anxious moments.
While the level of dams may not be a reason to worry, the water supply disruption in these summer months is certainly a concern. The obvious problem then appears to be water transmission, an issue that Goa has been grappling with for decades.
Ironically, water has been the talking point in Goa every summer season. While successive ministers have been trying to soothe tempers, none have been able to fix transmission issues, and the many promises of uninterrupted water supply have always remained a pipe dream. Recently Shirodkar stated that a Rs 300-crore barrage is being built over the Chapora river at Sal in Bicholim which will add 250 MLD raw water to Goa’s storage and fulfil all water requirements by December this year. He also spoke of enhancing the water capacity of the Chandel plant, besides making the Ganjem plant operational.
Last month, the Goa Human Rights Commission lambasted the PWD over acute water shortages affecting several villages in North and South Goa and spelt out a slew of measures including connecting with larger diameter pipelines and replacing the corroded pipelines on an urgent basis.
For a State that is boasting about development and takes pride in initiatives like ‘Har Ghar Jal’, which even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has amplified in his recent Goa outreach, the water scarcity cuts out a sorry picture.
The PWD must resolve pipeline issues because the current supply is at the heart of the water cuts. The new projects that Shirodkar speaks of are of a long-term plan, what Goa needs right now is a quick fix because there is no efficient parallel system, and the tanker supply is as inconsistent and unreliable. Work on all faulty lines must begin on a war footing, ruptures must be addressed promptly, helplines need to be activated, pipelines have to be replaced with larger and better pipes and in a digital age bring an app to raise water-related complaints.
Instead of the never-ending assurances and hollow promises, the government must show empathy to those who are left waterless for days and are denied their fundamental necessity of living.
