MARGAO
Villagers of Assolna have vowed to protect the village lakes and water bodies, demanding that the government and the Water Resources department (WRD) lend a helping hand in building the bundh to facilitate storage of water.
A group of villagers along with the Chairman of the Assolna Bio-diversity Management Committee Fredrick Borges descended at a water body along with Junior engineer of the Water Resources in view of reports that objection has been raised for the storage of water.
The residents pointed out that the bundh of the water body has been built for the last three years as a result of which the water wells around the water body ran dry during summer. They pointed out that the water bodies not only attract migratory birds, but had help to recharge the ground water level in the village.
The Bio-diversity Management Committee Chairman Fredrick Borges told the media after the inspection that the bio-diversity is committed to protect the village water bodies for posterity. “An attempt was made to build the gate of the lake, but the gate was opened and the water released. We have to take stern action against those opening the gate and releasing water. We have written to the WRD Minister to protect the village water bodies”, he said.
He added: “If there are complaints that the water storage would result in submerging the houses, the NOCs need to be obtained by the department to build a retaining wall. Since the gate of the bundh is being opened by some miscreants, it has been decided to install CCTV cameras at the site to monitor the movements”.
A local youth Maurice Diniz feared that the drinking water wells around the water bodies will run dry if the bundh of the lake is not build as per the rich tradition. “We have to protect our natural water resources are use the same for the use of human beings as well as to enrich our environment”, he said.
Another villager Jovito Fernandes recalled that the lake had once played host to migratory birds and had helped to recharge the ground water. “Farmers used to cultivate their fields with the water from the water body. People used to catch fish and sell the same in the markets”, he said, while demanding that the water body is protected by the government at all costs.
