Dharbandora Deputy Collector Akshay Patekar chairs a joint meeting with officials and residents over the quality of water in the Ragada river at Sancorda.
Photo Credits: The Goan
PONDA
Dharbandora Deputy Collector Akshay Patekar on Friday convened a joint meeting with residents, panchayat members and officials over the quality of water in the Ragada river at Sancorda.
While the Water Resources Department (WRD) has claimed the Ragada River water is safe for drinking, locals continue to believe that the water is contaminated.
Patekar listened to the views of those present at the meeting and later directed officials to collect water samples from the river on Tuesday to ascertain the quality of water. Till then, water supply will be provided to the villagers through tankers.
Those present at the meeting included Laxmikant Kurtikar, Collem Police Inspector Sagun Sawant, Executive Engineer Lester D'Souza, Assistant Engineer Sadanand Naik, Assistant Engineer Devidas Borkar, Sarpanch Priya Khandeparkar, Deputy Sarpanch Shirish Desai, health department officials and a delegation of villagers.
Officials maintained that the Ragada River water is safe for drinking, but Vipin Naik who represented the delegation of villagers insisted that the river water was not safe for consumption and accused the government of failing to provide clean water to the people.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Deputy Collector Akshay Patekar said water samples will be collected in the presence of Panchayat members and other officials and Mamlatdar Laxmikant Kuttikar on Tuesday at 11 am. “The PWD has been directed to supply water to people through water tankers till the report of the water sample is received,” he said.
The Ragada River serves as the primary source of drinking water for the residents of Sancorda, who had recently raised concerns about its contamination and demanded action against a fish pond owner.
The WRD has already taken disciplinary action against a fish pond owner for contaminating the river, by issuing a notice to the owner and confiscating the pumps used for fish cultivation after discovering that the water from the ponds was being released into the river, causing contamination.
The WRD's report revealed that the fish pond owner had been operating three catfish cultivation ponds near the river, releasing contaminated water into the river, which rendered it unfit for consumption.
Consequently, a green-coloured film layer was discovered on the river while some fish in the river perished, prompting concerns about the water quality.
WRD Minister Subhash Shirodkar said measures were taken to address the contamination, and the river water was now deemed safe for consumption after the polluted water had been flushed out.
