Twin lakes of Chimbel-St Cruz could well be Panjim’s captive reservoir
They once gave Tiswadi all the water they could drink. They nowlie drowned in politics.
If desilted and treated the two lakes in St Cruz and Chimbelcould well solve drinking water woes of Panjim and surrounding areas. The areaaround the lakes could also be beautified and converted into touristic spots.
Presently both the lakes are lying idle with water from them hardlybeing used for any purpose.
According to Rudolf Fernandes, the son of former MLA VictoriaFernandes, political revenge led to thepitiful state of St Cruz lake. “My mother who was then the MLA of theconstituency had got work sanctioned for the repair and beautification of the lake.But nothing happened” Fernandes said.
But regrettably the lake has become a victim of politicization.“My first priority will be to use the water of the lake for agriculturalpurpose. Developing it into a tourist spot is secondary,” Fernandes said.
During the Portuguese era, the Chimbel lake near the Kadambaplateau was used as a water reservoir to carry potable water for entire Tiswadi.
The water from the St Cruz lake at ‘Bandhar’ was used foragriculture for many years. “At present the St Cruz lake is in bad state withhardly any maintenance carried out,” said Rudolf Fernandes.
“Both the lakes are listed as “Lakes of Goa”, but unfortunatelyboth have lost their identity,” said Rakesh Kandolkar resident of ChimbelTiswadi.
“I learnt about the Chimbel lake when I was studying in school,but when I went to see the lake in May this year it was a different story,”Kandolkar said. The lake is in a bad state with no maintenance carried outwhatsoever, Kandolkar added.
For Mahesh Naik a resident of St Cruz, the main focus should beto maintain the two lakes. For what purpose they will be used comes later, hesaid.
“Both the lakes have beautiful natural look. They could bedeveloped as good tourist spots,” he added.
Local MLA Atanasio Monseratte was not available for comment.
