NT NETWORK
Ponda
Finding fault with the Jal Shakti Ministry’s announcement of 100 per cent coverage of households in Goa with tap water connection, former PWD Minister and Marcaim MLA Ramakrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar said that only 85 per cent households in Goa possess tap water connection which provides filtered water. Dhavalikar also sought an explanation from the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant over the announcement made by Jal Shakti Ministry. Dhavalikar addressed a press briefing at Bandora over the same.
According to Dhavalikar, Jal Shakti Ministry has been provided with wrong information by the state government regarding the tap water connection in the state due to which false announcements have been made by the Ministry recently. The claim by the Ministry that 100 per cent households have tap water connection is false, Dhavalikar said.
“I have worked as PWD Minister of the state in the past, that too for decades and I am very much aware that 15 per cent households in the state still lack tap water connection that provide filtered water,” Dhavalikar said. He further informed that out of the 15 per cent, some households do have taps in the house, but those are provided directly through river or canal water. They are not getting filtered water. Secondly such taps are not metered yet. Remaining households are yet to get tap water facility and these households are managing their water needs through natural resources, he said.
“This announcement by the Jal Shakti Ministry is like the one on open defecation-free state announcement made by the state government in the year 2018. It is only on paper and in reality, there are thousand families defecating in the open,” Dhavalikar said.
It’s been two years since the state government announced Goa as ODF state despite which thousands of families who had paid for getting toilet systems are yet to receive toilets and are forced to defecate in the open, Dhavalikar claimed.
Considering it, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant should come out clean on the announcement by the Jal Shakti Ministry, Dhavalikar demanded.
It should be noted that on October 9, the Jal Shakti Ministry had announced that Goa has earned itself the unique distinction of becoming the first ‹Har Ghar Jal› state in the country as it successfully provides 100 per cent functional household tap connections (FHTCs) in the rural areas covering 2.30 lakh rural households.
