Residents of Porvorim have been experiencing an acute shortage of drinking water for the past two weeks due to the repair works being carried out on the Tilari dam canals that supply raw water to Bardez. Porvorim, as a result, is receiving drinking water only on alternate days through the Assnorra water treatment plant, instead of the water from the treatment plant in Porvorim, which is kept shut due to the repair works in progress on the Maharashtra and Goa sides of the Tilari dam canals.
As the water presently supplied is insufficient to meet the daily needs of the people, they have to depend mainly on water from tankers, which is proving to be very expensive, besides being of dubious quality. This brings into question why no thought was given earlier by the Water Resources Department and the Public Works Department to keep the Porvorim water treatment plant running during emergencies through other sources. Shutting down a plant that supplies 15 million litres of drinking water a day is a serious matter which cannot be condoned on any count. Goa has around 5-6 dams that overflow every monsoon and can very well be used in times of emergencies and breakdowns so that people are not deprived of their daily water requirements. It is time we revamped the entire distribution network.
