This is with reference to the news report' PWD to take call on treated sewage water: WRD minister' (TGE, June 16). The ball is now in the PWD court for sure, after Water Resource Department (WRD) minister Subash Shirodkar has made it very clear that the onus is now on the PWD to manage the treated sewage water from the Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) in Margao and Colva which is currently being discharged into the river Sal. It is simply shocking that a whopping 20 MLD of treated sewage water is being wasted, when it could be well used for secondary purposes like gardening, washing of public vehicles and garages, flushing of govt and public toilets , and industrial purposes, where potable water is presently being used, at a time when the people of Goa are crying out for drinking water. A lot of our problems of shortage of drinking water due to falling levels in the storage dams during the summer months and delayed monsoons would have been solved, had we taken steps to divert millions of litres of treated sewage water for use in Industrial plants and secondary purposes. A sad case of poor planning and skewed priorities.
