The Congress party has charged the BJP government for sitting on the water policy for years, knowing fully well that rainfall in Goa has become erratic and is not sufficient any more to recharge the ground water and reservoirs.
Addressing the media, Congress spokesman Avinash Tavares said that it was known for months that the water level at Selaulim reservoir has been dangerously low, but lamented that in spite of this knowledge, the administration did nothing about the effects it will have on the quality of raw water. “The government should know that manganese toxicity can cause hypertension, iron deficiency, kidney failure as well as diseases of the central nervous system,” Tavares said.
Saying that excessive construction and over-consumption by five star hotels and industries have increased the demand for water, Tavares, however, said that instead of focusing on water harvesting and conservation, PWD and WRD are only focused on building mega tanks like the one at Benaulim Monte.
"Nobody in the government seems to have an answer to where the water will come from,” he said, while condemning the BJP-led government for their lax attitude towards the health of the people of Goa.
On the DefExpo controversy, Tavares sad the Congress party has wished the villagers of Naqueri-Betul, who have filed a petition in the National Green Tribunal and the High Court against the weapons and war equipment in their village in order to address their concerns about the district issues of environmental impact as well as the security threat to their village.
“Because of the administrative sabotage and breakdown of law and order, the Courts are the only remaining hope,” he said.
