Senior citizens knocking on doors of PWD’s office

PANAJI: After the government’s repeated assurances of delivering water fell flat, distressed senior citizens from various parts of Tiswadi arrived at the PWD office in Panaji on Thursday, all with the same question “When is water supply likely to be restored?”
Some begged for a tanker to be sent only to be told that it was next to impossible.
One senior citizen who travelled from Corlim who ran out of water said “not a single PWD tanker had come” to their area.When he was told that it would be quicker to hire a private tanker, he said he didn’t trust the water supplied by them.
“The PWD should have sent tankers directly to Opa to collect the water and distribute it to people,” he said, but was told by the PWD that while special provisions for filling water were lately made at Altinho tanks to collect water, no such facility to supply water to tankers is present at Opa.
“Please see that we are given some water. We are afraid of using well water,” he requested politely while another citizen shouted in frustration and threatened to break PWD pipes if the water didn’t arrive on Thursday. “I don’t have a drop of water. I brought a tanker but all the water is over. You’re not even picking up my calls,” he shouted.
Another senior citizen from Ribandar who has been relying on private tankers requested officials to “please” send him a tanker. “I can ask my nephew to phone Babush (Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate). He will send a tanker immediately. But I don’t want his favour,” he told PWD staff.
Scoffing at PWD’s reply that it was out of treated water, a resident of Caranzalem requested the PWD to source well water and deliver it to people. “Who wants treated water in this situation. Private tankers are bringing water from anywhere. You should have got water from wells and supplied it to people and warned them not use it for drinking purposes,” the anxious citizen said while requesting for another tank from PWD.
“The PWD sent me a tanker from Agaccaim around 11 pm on Wedneday but the hose pipe was only three/ five meters long. If he had come during the day, I could have arranged for a hose pipe from somewhere else, but the driver had to go home to Ponda as it was late,” he told TOI, regretting he had to send the tanker back.