Panaji: With rising demand, water tanker biz goes unregulated

PANAJI: During the summer, when most parts of Goa get only a couple of hours of piped water, the gap in supply is filled by water tankers. But citizens worry that the number of registered tankers are far too few to meet demand during the hot months, a situation that prompts unregistered or illegally operated water tankers to cash in on the opportunity. It doesn’t help that there is no mechanism in place to regularly monitor the water sources of even registered tankers.
Despite the obvious spurt in illegal tanker operations, the water resources department (WRD) is still only considering measures like fitting the vehicles with GPS monitoring systems to track their movements. While the department is required to carry out regular checks, it is worrisome that nervous officials, at a meeting held last year, discussed the need to seek police protection when inspecting cases of illegal water tankers. It indicates that such monitoring has not been taking place for the fear of attacks by illegal tanker operators.
“Demand for water tankers has not only shot up at our company, but at others as well. During the summer, demand is especially high from the tourist areas in North Goa and Canacona. The government does not seem to be taking the water problem seriously,” owner of Porvorim-based A1 Borewells, Kishore Rao, says.
Citizens also complain that water tankers belonging to the public works department (PWD) are not freely available in many areas, increasing the demand for private players.
“In densely populated areas like Porvorim, where there are large building complexes, one or two suppliers provide water to hundreds of apartments. Each tanker contains 5,000-8,000 litres of water. In some complexes, they make more than one trip a day. The question is how do they have access to such unlimited water for supply in the summer when even water level in wells comes down. Also, they charge Rs 600-700 per trip, when the diesel consumed will itself cost Rs 300. I cannot help but think that the quality of water is compromised,” a Porvorim resident says.
Earlier this month, residents of Dhave-Sattari complained of contaminated water being supplied by PWD tankers and even claimed to have suffered throat infections as a result.
WRD officials admit that in many cases, the water tanker owner does not own the source of water such as wells and draws water from those belonging to someone else. This makes monitoring even more complex.
As years lapse, the owners of wells that are registered for supply of water to tankers, are not even required to maintain a log of the number of times each tanker draws water from the source. This can lead to overexploitation of groundwater.
“Locals cannot depend on wells any more as they dry up in the summers. They have to hire water tankers to meet their requirements. It is only a matter of time, because we will also face water shortages soon,” manager of Naik Water Suppliers, Rajesh Lohar, says.
The 2012 study on Goa’s groundwater situation states there is no declining trend in groundwater levels during the post- and pre-monsoon period in Goa and that the state therefore falls under the ‘safe’ category. It, however, accepts that the “regional picture does not reflect local variation such as areas of groundwater stress in some of the industrial estates, coastal areas and areas of rapid urbanisation”.
“We get around 1.5 hours of water supply, after which we need to rely on tankers. We call for them almost every day, but since we run a business, it is still affordable to do so. The same cannot be said for households,” a Panaji-based businessman, Babu Sakhalkar, says.
“The solution wouldn’t just be increasing hours of supply – the repercussion of which would be unchecked usage of water that would lead to even more wastage. Rather, people must be educated about ways to conserve and harness water, which would help deal with scarcity more effectively,” Mala resident Selvio Fernandes, says.