VASCO: Many parts of Velsao have been hit by acute water shortage for almost a month, prompting Cortalim MLA Anton Vas to take a PWD team and visit the affected areas to identify the fault.
Vas on Friday morning had a joint meeting with PWD engineers, including EE Vishwambar Bhende, AE Naresh Painguinkar and Mohan Naik, before proceeding to various areas of Velsao.
Water shortage worries villagers
Speaking to reporters, Vas said he had received a memorandum regarding the issue of acute water shortage from residents last week.
“I initially called the JE to check on the issue. We went to various places, but the fault could not be found. Finally, I have brought all senior engineers, including EE Vishwambar Bhende, for a site visit to ascertain the fault and resolve the issue. I even met PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral who instructed the engineers to find the fault on priority. The issue has to be resolved by the department and I will ensure that we go to all locations and move point to point to find the fault and resolve the issue," said Vas.
Cause of the problem yet to be ascertained
PWD EE Vishwambar Bhende said the team had been trying its best to find the cause of the issue. "We have attended to all leakages and pressure issues, but water supply is still affected. We have not found any visual leakages, but we have identified certain points where the pressure has dropped.”
“We will move from the starting point and move the entire village to check from point to point and finally assess the issue and offer suggestions. We are getting normal water supply and proper pressure from Seraulim and we are now focussing on this area only so that the actual fault can be found.”
“We have checked the valves and tapping points and we cannot rule out blockages that are sometimes caused due to penetrating roots of trees. Our pipelines are below hot mixed roads and sometimes leakages are absorbed in the sand below the road and are difficult to be identified. We will however move across all areas and find a solution to resolve the issue within two days," said Bhende.
According to residents, this is the first time that the village suffered from a water supply issue. “We get water in droplets sometimes and that too, in the wee hours at about 1 am or 3 am. We initially thought that it was a temporary fault, but things have gone from bad to worse with the issue lasting for almost a month,” complained a resident.
