During the past week, Goa experienced two major pipe bursts. The first was at Guirim, where a major pipe line (trunk main) supplying drinking water to Guirim, Saligao, Sangolda and surrounding areas, burst, causing a loss of lakhs of litres of drinking water. The second was a 30inch, 50-year old pipeline at Curti, Ponda that ruptured, cutting off drinking water to most of Ponda, sending a few more thousands of litres of water down the drain.
Not long back, we were given to understand by the PWD, that all the old water lines in the distribution system were replaced under the JICA project, where crores of rupees were spent by the Goa government for improvement of the State’s water supply, using the services of foreign consultants.
How is it then that the 50-year old pipeline at Curti was not replaced, and why is it that newly-laid pipelines continue to burst and leak frequently. All this is estimated to cause around 30%-40% loss of drinking water to a water-starved state, and loss of revenue to the state government. It is time therefore for the PWD to take serious note of the gravity of the situation.
