Tiswadi gets water, but the water soon runs out

PANAJI: An eight-day harrowing wait for treated water came to an end on Thursday for the residents of Tiswadi and parts of Ponda but the respite was brief as the water quickly ran out. Contrary to assurances given by the PWD department, several hundred residents living in the vicinity of the capital had to wait till Thursday afternoon for water.
PWD engineers claimed that residents consumed more than average amount of water for domestic purposes leading to water running out quickly.
“Water is being pumped at normal pressure from the Opa treatment plant but since the sumps and ground level reservoirs were empty and the demand for water heavy, water pressure at the tail end is weak,” said a PWD executive engineer.
Eight days after two ductile iron water pipelines were washed away due to heavy rains at Curti, Ponda, water once again began to flow through the 900mm pipeline from Wednesday onwards. PWD contractors worked round the clock to repair the 12-meter section of the two water pipelines at Kerian-Khandepar which were damaged.
To most people’s dismay, the water that poured from their taps water was muddy or reddish brown in colour. “Dirty brown water came through the taps and we had to let the taps run for a while till we got clean water,” said Flory Viegas, a resident of Merces.
Residents quickly began to use the water to wash clothes and utensils and also stored water in case the water supply ran out. Thousands of people in Goa suffered due to the water shortage since the intervening night of August 14-15.
By mid-day PWD officials fine-tuned the repairs by tightening joints where water was leaking. The joints which were welded have borne the water pressure and PWD has encased the repaired section of the pipeline in concrete, said a PWD engineer.
Water pressure was very low in the morning and some residents could get water only in the afternoon. “PWD has cheated us by telling us that water will come. How can we live like this?” said Ribandar resident Leena Young.
The water situation is expected to stabilize by Saturday, a PWD official said.
Principal chief engineer Uttam Parsekar agreed said that water crisis was on account of a natural disaster. “Efforts put by the entire team have to be appreciated. We have tried our best to provide water to the best of our ability,” said Parsekar.