MLA Viresh Borkar said according to the information supplied by the water department, St Andre constituency constituency was getting only 14 MLD of water supply when the actual demand was 16 MLD.
Photo Credits: . Narayan Pissurlenkar
MAPUSA
Revolutionary Goans Party MLA, Viresh Borkar crossed swords with PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral in the Goa Legislative Assembly over irregular supply of pipeline water in St Andre and demanded that the minister visit his constituency to learn the ground reality.
Borkar said according to the information supplied by the water department, St Andre constituency was getting only 14 MLD of water supply when the actual demand was 16 MLD.
“While some houses in areas like Curca get water supply for only half an hour and in other areas it's just two hours, big contractors and multi-dwelling units get full supply. The government needs to get its priority right and should not deprive the common man of his constitutional right for drinking water,” Borkar thundered, while raising the issue during the Question Hour.
Responding to the St Andre MLA, PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral informed that the government was working on a plan to provide 4/5 hours of daily drinking water to people and also increase the duration of supply to those who get 7/8 hours of water daily.
He also said the government was following the World Health Organisation (WHO) norms while trying to provide drinking water to people of the State.
“We have taken the population of the constituency into consideration while arriving at the figure showing 2 MLD shortage of water. 14 MLD supply is good enough which can be augmented gradually at a later stage,” Cabral informed.
Unhappy with the response from the PWD minister, Borkar said: “Cabral should visit the constituency to understand the ground reality. I will feed him with rice and fish at my place and later take him around to people’s houses so that he can verify the flow of water.”
The RGP MLA also questioned the PWD Minister on how he would supply drinking water to the constituency when Karnataka diverts the water from the Mhadei river.
Bicholim MLA Chandrakant Shetye also expressed anxiety over shortage of water in interior villages. He said there were several villages which still did not get proper water supply.
