SAMEER BHATT | NT
CURCHOREM: Over 300 households in Ambeudok, which is a part of Sanvordem village, face a lot of inconvenience due to the shortage of water. The villagers said that during the rainy season, the rainwater serves their drinking and other domestic purposes.
The water problem has started compounding, they said, adding since the closure of the mining operations only four buckets of water are provided per family.
Sometime back the government had assured the villagers of supplying tap water and hence all the families had taken water pipeline connections for their respective houses. Even water meters were fixed by the public works department. However, the water never ran down the taps but the families have been receiving water bills for no water consumed by them.
A villager Mukund Ichalkar said that “despite several complaints the process of issuing water bills is going on uninterruptedly. The entire village was depending on the mining business and since the mining operations are shut, the villagers are now unemployed. The mine owners have stopped water supply which is of utmost importance for our survival.”
“How can we survive daily with only 4 buckets of water? The mining company had provided us with education, medical and other facilities. School buses were provided to students to travel to their respective schools. All such facilities are stopped and now we are facing untold hardships,” he said.
The housewives who look after the daily chores are adversely affected by the shortage of water supply.
Devki Upar said that “earlier we used to receive four barrels of water which was supplied by the company. Now the water supply has been stopped and we have been put to untold hardships. Only one tanker is sent by the government per day to our village and it gives us only four buckets of water per family.”
Another housewife Manorathi Naik said that the villagers had dug a well to provide drinking water for primary school children. “Now, we draw water from this well which is muddy and not good for drinking purposes. We require at least four barrels of water for washing, bathing, cooking, toilet use etc,” she said.
Sanvordem sarpanch Sandip Pauskar said, “Every effort is being made by the panchayat to provide water to the Ambeudok village. After the closure of mines, the panchayat had obtained a written permission from
mines department and submitted to the mine owners to ensure regular water supply to the village but despite this the water supply has been stopped. The panchayat has tried its best to supply water by tankers from Sanvordem but it was not feasible. Now, the mining
company has given us a water pump which will be installed on the banks of the river and water will be supplied to the Ambeudok area.”