Goa: Water woes of Panaji to stretch till Tuesday: CM Pramod Sawant
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that ongoing work of restoration of the potable water pipeline, which was washed away amid excessive rains on Friday, is being undertaken on a war footing.
Panaji: Faced with severe water scarcity over the last 72 hours, the water woes of Goa's capital are expected to spill over on to Tuesday, according to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. The Chief Minister said on Monday that ongoing work of restoration of the potable water pipeline, which was washed away amid excessive rains on Friday, is being undertaken on a war footing.
"We had earlier said that water supply to Panaji and nearby areas will resume from Monday. But it may take a day more," Sawant told reporters here.
Residents here and in other outlying areas have been hit by water scarcity since early Saturday, after a landslide washed away two key pipelines from the Opa reservoir in Ponda sub-district supplying to North Goa, including Panaji.
The landslide occurred late on Friday, caused by a sustained spell of heavy rainfall in the state over the last two weeks. Public Works Department Minister Deepak Pauskar blamed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for the pipeline breakage.
"They (NHAI) have not been careful while undertaking highway widening works along the national highway to Belgavi (in Karnataka). The excessive dumping of mud on the retaining wall could have led to its collapse," Pauskar said.
The Goa government has arranged water supply by tankers for the residents of Panaji and other affected areas to tide over the current crisis.