Goa sucked dry with rampant rash of borewells in industrial areas and construction sites
Our fight is not with Karnataka. Nor is it with Maharashtra.Mahdei and Selaulim dam waters may quench our parched earths. But who sucks itdry again?
Visibly- at threatare our drying wells. But not so visibly – and here’s where it hurts, at threatare our future. Goa is in imminent danger of having no ground water, in manyparts of the state.
Goa has seen a spurt in constructions and across the state,the demand for water has risen tenfold. Many construction companies andindustrial units have taken the easy way out to get access to water – digging abore well.
The Ground Water Regulation Act 2002 was meant to protectGoa’s groundwater. The exact opposite has happened. Locals around the VernaIndustrial Estate and in villages like Porvorim and Davorlim are fightingagainst the monstrous bore wells that are depleting the ground water resources.
“We face an acute shortage of water in Loutolim. We have asingle pipeline and during the summer the wells run dry. People receive waterthrough the public pipeline for one hour a day, which is just not enough,” saidLoutolim sarpanch, Maria Monteiro.
Residents in the urbanised villages of Navelim and Porvorimcomplain of problems of depleting ground water levels, with the rampant rash ofbore wells dug by contractors of mega housing projects lead to reduction ofwater levels. This in turn has a ripple effect on the availability of water inwells.
“Often the contractors at the construction sites resort todigging of bore wells due to the delay by PWD in giving connections,” saidPeter D’Souza, Executive Engineer, Division II, WRD, in-charge of Salcette,Quepem and Sanguem. The PWD is not able to issue a connection since it is notpossible to do so, until the structure comes up, the executive engineerinformed.
“The builder is then forced to dig a bore well if he gets permission from highlevel committee based on a report of a senior hydrologist and the ground waterofficer,” D’Souza said.
D’Souza further points out that there are more than 200borewells in Verna Industrial Estate because of scarcity of raw water providedfrom Selaulim.
“Since 2010, we have put meters for all the bore wells inthe Verna Industrial Estate and charged Rs 20 per cubic meter as commercialcharges for those drawing water from these bore wells,” D’Souza said.
The department is also accounting the pump capacity andafter multiplying it by the number of years from the time the bore well waserected, collects arrears from 2002 onwards from the units. “This brings inhuge revenue to the government,” D’Souza said.
But is Revenue the issue here? “Here the question is not about collectingrevenue for the state. The problem is that these bore wells are dug below 90meters, while a normal well is just 10-15 meters deep. These bore wells are directlytapping out water leaving the ground water levels dry,” said Joao PhillipePereira, whose PIL against bore wells wants industrial owners indicted formisusing ground water and violating the Goa Ground Water Regulation Act 2002.
Bore wells pump water into tankers that is sold to thehotels while villagers have to go without water, Pereira stated. According tothe executive engineer, Verna Industrial Estate and nearby areas of Verna,Nuvem, Nagoa, Loutolim and parts of Quelossim that are suffering due to theborewell menace will now find some respite, as the present government hascommenced work on a war footing to lay a dedicated water pipeline from Selaulimto Verna.
“We have a full-fledged committee that is studyingpermissions for new bore wells. The permission is issued only if the party hasfull ownership of land and does not dig beyond 85 meters while drilling a borewell,” D’Souza said.
The ground water level predicament may not be that seriousright now, but unless strict norms and regulations are put in place, Goa mayjust dry up.
