Goemkarponn desk
CANACONA: Amidst declaration by Speaker and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar that PWD (water-Supply) is now supplying treated and non-contaminated water to the people of Agonda and Khola, DHS has yet again collected water samples.
DHS team, however, could not find water stored in the storage tank of Shelop in Khola village and inspite of the presence of the Junior Engineer had to leave without collecting water samples.
The team however when reached at Shalop storage Tank at Khola, were shocked to find the 1 lakh litre storage tank was fully empty and the PWD JE at the site accepting the non-functionality of the filtration plant and the water after being pumped in the storage tank is treated with choline and supplied to the people.
A valve operator at the tank stating the water was supplied as pumped from downstream and informed that he was directed not to fill up the tank so that the DHS team would not get water samples for testing purposes. There was some commotion at the site, as some locals present informed that non-treated and dirt-filled water is regularly supplied to the people while the JE present at the site could neither provide answers nor water –samples for testing. A drama ensued when the PWD Junior Engineer at the site stated that non-filtered water is stored (as the filtration plant is still non-operative) and water treated with chlorine in the storage tank before being supplied in the taps, and was seen asking from where DHS wants to collect the samples as the Storage tank is empty after the days supply.
Earlier, the DHS team along with PWD officials and Police escort visited the improvised ground storage tank of Betul-Parvem in Agonda village, where the non-functional Filtration tank was reportedly made functional 2 weeks ago, and collected the water samples in two containers viz; 5 litre plastic Can and 1 ltr plastic bottle. Both the containers were sealed with DHS stamps. The PWD Junior Engineer also valued the Chlorine content and stated the Chl content is 0.7 and well within the limits.
The team along with police personnel then collected water samples from Mudkud Hill’s top water storage tank, where also water is stored after the repair of the Filtration Plant. The water is treated with chlorine in the tank, before being released for supply through the taps. The chlorine content was measured at 4.5 by the PWD JE at the site as the DHS team collected the water samples in 5ltr and 1-litre plastic containers for Bacterial and Chemical analysis.
The team then left the venue without collecting samples and later collected samples from the Paryekatta storage tank in the same 5ltrs and 1ltrs plastic containers.
It may be recalled that following a police complaint against PWD officers for supplying contaminated and untreated water to the people of Agonda and Khola, on police directions, the Directorate of Health Services through CHC Canacona has collected water samples from 5 Water-Storage sites in Agonda(3) and Khola (2) and the Chemical analysis and Bacteriological Examinations have found the presence of Coliform Organisms in all the five water-supply storage tanks and declared the water does not conform to the standards prescribed for drinking water and not fit for human consumptions. But still, PWD continued to supply water from the same storage tanks and later took up cleaning tanks and repairs of non-functional Filtration Plants.
Canacona MLA and GLA Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar, in a press meeting, also claimed that the anomalies are corrected and treated and non-contaminated water is supplied to the people from the respective storage tanks of Agonda and Khola.
