By Bharati Pawaskar
This year, Goa witnessed an extended monsoon. Rain gods were too pleased with this land this season but did we manage to harvest this bountiful rain? Did we save this water? If not, where did it go? Is there awareness regarding the depleting water resources and shrinking water bodies? Yes. Fortunately, the people of Goa are waking up to water shortage and revival of natural springs and water bodies is being undertaken on a considerable scale, thanks to Goa State Biodiversity Board and Jalashakti Abhiyan, which are involving youth and who have motivated local village panchayats to take up this task along with them.
A fresh example is that of January 5 when the Curti-Khandepar Biodiversity Management Committee in association with Youth Club of Mestwada will be reviving the natural water springs in Ponda from as early as 8.30 am onwards. The credit to this water resource revival goes to Goa State Biodiversity Board, Jalshakti Abhiyan and Village Panchayat Curti-Khandepar.
The burning issue of the diversion of the waters from river Mhadei to Karnataka is in the Supreme Court and whatever decision comes through it will decide the fate of Goa, points out noted environmentalist Dr Rajendra Kerkar who was at the Kalsa-Bhandura project site in Karnataka to review the situation. “I visit this place every five-six days to take note of the development. Karnataka is speedily carrying on the construction and one has to keep a close watch on it,” says Kerkar, who has plunged into ‘Mhadei Bachao’ movement voluntarily quitting his job.
An environmental activist for over 25 years, Kerkar mentions that 3.90 DMC water has been allotted to Karnataka for drinking purpose in Hubli and Dharwad region. However, until and unless the Tribunal award notification is not published in the official gazette, the decision cannot be implemented. Kerkar points out that Kankumbi does not have the required gravity for underground water and the work on the channel tunnel has been completed now. Karnataka has done this unofficially and illegally. The dam project is in the government owned reserve forest land. And until and unless the National Board of Wildlife, headed by the prime minister of India, gives permission to commission the same, it cannot be started. The letter of Prakash Javadekar, minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, mentions that getting Environment Clearance is necessary.
“The government of Goa has fully investigated this matter and it has to prove that this project is in the wildlife zone. Our side is strong, but we have to prove it in the Supreme Court,” says Kerkar. The argument before the Tribunal must be strong, he suggests, adding, “We have to prove that Karnataka’s Malaprabha river, which is sub-river of Krishan is 136 km in length whereas Mhadei is an independent river. These technical details must be presented before with supporting documents. Mhadai runs through Mhadei wildlife sanctuary in Goa and Bhimgadh wildlife sanctuary in Karnataka, so the waters of this river cannot be diverted, by law.”
Kerkar says that Karnataka has 10 big rivers and Goa has 12 rivers. These 12 rivers are the main sources of 43 per cent of the population. Except Mhadei Goa’s rivers are saline with the exception of one more river, Zuari, which is partly sweet. So Mhadei becomes the only lifeline for the people of Goa, he claims.
Now the question whether we use our water wisely arises too. Retired principal chief engineer, PWD, Goa government, Anand Wachasunder elaborates more on the issue. “There is no shortage of water in Goa but we need more awareness on how we use this water. We need to realise that water is a precious commodity. We have lot of rainwater, but this water is not for direct drinking. We need to treat this water before it is supplied to public. The water is treated according the requirement of the population per city and then supplied in that particular area. When some people use more water than the average water decided for that area, there’s shortage for others,” he states.
Ponda gets 18 hours water supply from the Curti-Opa water supply, Margao gets 20 hours while Vasco city gets average eight hours. The new treatment plant initiated at Vasco helps to get this water supply uninterrupted. Earlier Margao used to consume all the water from Opa and leave Vasco thirsty, points out Wachasunder.
The treatment of raw water requires chemicals, electricity, manpower, infrastructure, pumping stations, pipelines, storage tanks and a whole lot of systems. The water tarrif has 80 per cent subsidy and while the expenses to treat water is Rs 12-15 per cubic meter per 1000 litres, it is supplied for Rs 2.5 per cubic meter to people. The burden of this expense lies on the shoulders of the government. People do not realise that and they use and misuse water, says Wachasundar. “It is a crime to use treated drinking water for car wash or gardening. If someone is using it, he or she must be charged extra for this abuse. If taps leak, we must repair them immediately, as it saves lot of water. If small steps are taken by the people while using water, all of Goa will have sufficient drinking water throughout the year,” observes Wachasunder.
He maintains that Goa has adopted telescopic tariff system while distributing water. “For the first 15 cubic metres the tariff is Rs 3-4. As the consumption increases, the tariff goes up. But people tend to waste water, as there is no deterrent tariff. There is step-wise tariff structure but there’s ample amount of subsidy too. That’s why people do not mind wasting water,” he explains.
Many housing complexes have ground level sump and an overhead tank on the terrace of the buildings. If there’s leakage on the ground level, people living on other floors are not aware of it. There are leakages in the underground sump too. But nobody is bothered to inspect or check this. There must be vigilance and check on the wastage of water.
According to rules set by the Government of India, there should be 70 litres of water supplied per head (LPCD). But Goa supplies 150 litres. Still it falls short. The urban areas must get 135 litres per head, but we supply 152 litres per head. Sometimes the consumption is even 200 litres per head, if car wash and gardening is done with this water. This must be strictly avoided.
Suggesting a ‘stick and carrot’ method to keep a control on the usage of drinkable water, Wachasunder advocates of installing sub-meters for individual apartments in housing complexes, so that the owners pay according to their usage. “These separate sub-meters must be made compulsory. The municipalities must insist on this while giving occupancy certificates. The awareness and judicial use of water can save Goa from water shortage in 2020,” declares Wachasunder.
Blais Costabir, managing director, GMI Zarhak Moulders, Verna opines that the problem is not the availability of water. The former president of Verna Industrial Estate says, “The problem is of treated water. We can draw lot of raw water. In fact, there has been an experiment in using raw water in place of treated water at Verna which has been successful. There is a shortage of treated water, so we use raw water. The government has to understand the advantage of raw water. Of course, it is difficult for homes to use raw water. For companies that own treatment plants, the advantage is to use their treated water for gardening.”
Goa gets lot of rain. We must focus on rainwater harvesting. The drainages and pavements restrict the water to seep in the soil. There must be holes in the drainages so that water percolates to the ground and this will control the formation of mosquitos too. Currently all the rainwater washes away in the sea. It is a great loss. “Switching to solar power, using raw water and rain water harvesting are the three things that will lead us to a water-power free Goa in 2020,” says Blaise.
