Major water crisis hits Canacona

Babesh Borkar
Canacona: As compared to the previous year, Canacona has been facing a major water scarcity this year. Places like Agonda, Cola, Baddem, Zintawadi etc have been facing major water problems.
Kankonkars allege that there is sufficient water in the dam, but the government has failed to supply it to the people. Some experts state that the present water level will be sufficient till August this year.Places like Chaudi, Mastimol, Kindlem, Patnem, Tarir are facing major problems. Many people had to shift either to their relatives’ or their native places and it was very difficult during the examinations. There were morchas taken to the water department many a time during the last two months, but they were in vain.
Ex vice-chairperson of Canacona municipality, Dilip Kenkre, stated that the water supply department starts their work of repairing the pipelines etc, during the month of March, but when people visit the office concerned to ask about the water problem, they received a vague answer from the officer.
He further added that if the work of repairing the pipelines is done in the month of October and November, the problem will be solved partially. “The water supply department is sussegad in nature,” he said. Canacona OBC finance development corporation director Sanjay Komarpant said that the water pipeline in Canacona is around 30-years-old and the government should think of changing it.
The government has arranged for water tankers in places like Avali and Cotigao every alternate day, but the tankers cannot be taken into residential areas due to narrow roads and the people have to walk for a distance of around one-and-half kilometres to collect water from the tankers.
Devidas Gaonkar, a resident of Cotigao, said that there is a small stream at Baddem and a lake at Avem and people were supplied water through a pipeline from this spring. But, the pipeline has not been changed for the last 20 years, it has got rusted and leaks at various places. Most of the wells in Canacona have gone dry.
“The bhandara in Dabel has never dried up in the past, but for the first time this has happened,” said Rupesh Zorao, resident of Dabel.
Cecelina Fernandes of Xeler, Canacona, said that they have faced major water problems this year and the department concerned received vague answers such as “pumps under repair and major technical problems”.
When TOI contacted,PWD’s assistant engineer Lester D’Souza, he stated that the municipality is responsible, to some extent, for this water problem while giving occupancy certificates to various buildings. “Secondly, these pipelines are very old and more pressure cannot be put on them as they might burst. A tender of 18 crore for the repair of pipelines and a new pump has been approved and the work will begin in a few months time. He further stated that the traditional wells remained unused.
In most places in the coastal belt of Canacona, new hotels have been constructed and the use of water is done mostly for gardening and car washing. “There is major theft of water in the coastal belt,” said junior engineer Deepraj Madkaikar.
“India is an agricultural country and youth, nowadays, are getting attracted towards agriculture. If the water problem exists, how would farmers get water for their fields as well as the animals who work in their fields,” said Ulhas Gaonkar of Indrawada, Gaondongrim.