PANAJI
The business of supplying ground water by tankers which in recent years has grown manifold has come into sharp focus even as glitches and shortfalls in regular piped water supply rise in summer months.
Goa, according to official records, has some 880-odd tankers legally supplying water tapped from ground water sources including wells. The most, 205, are in Tiswadi taluka and Bardez with 167 tankers is next.
Salcete has 112, Bicholim 89, Mormugao 78, Pernem 46 and Sattari 45 tankers running the private water supply business. The least number of tankers -- six- are in Canacona taluka.
The business thrives on demand mostly from the commercial sector, generally industrial units which consume more water than they get through the regular PWD supplied sources and also at construction sites where temporary commercial connections are yet to be sanctioned and installed.
To a lesser extent, these private tankers also service residential colonies developed in regions outlying existing habitations and where pipelines are yet to be laid. The Kadamba plateau is one such example.
Interestingly, despite concerns raised by greens over the indiscriminate exploitation of ground water, the government has just five officers from the WRD designated as 'ground water officers' who monitor and regulate the extraction of ground water which is governed by the Goa Ground Water Regulation Act, 2002.
Getting into the tanker business is also a facile affair. To operate the tanker business, all one has to do is apply to the Water Resources Department and indicate the source from where the ground water will be extracted for supply.
Also, the ground water source if not owned by the applicant requires the NOC from the owner and it should be registered with the WRD as a 'commercial' water source. The annual registration fees charged for a 5000-litre capacity tanker is Rs 5,000 while it is Rs 3,000 for smaller ones.
