Goemkarponn desk
CANACONA: With an eye on upcoming Loksabha polls, RGP MLA (St. Andre Constituency) Viresh Borkar toured Canacona raising burning issues of Power outages, Scarcity in Water-Supply and Health Care in the constituency.
Besides hearing the grievances of people, Borkar, accompanied by Prashant Pagi (RGP Candidate of last Assembly polls), also had a personnel touch with some of the youths of Gaondognrim and Khotigao over employment, health care and other concerns.
Borkar said the frequent and erratic power-outage in Canacona is serious, the water-supply is a big government failure, and not having emergency health –care is another gracious concern for the residents of Canacona.
‘I am informed by people from Canacona that water woes are plenty in the taluka, especially at Gaondongrim and Khotigao, Gaunem dam (Gaondongrim) which was taken up for construction 17 years ago, and now stares after being completed 6 years ago, by spending crores of rupees still unutilised, and still some people from Gaondongrim and Khotigao draws water from pits made in river-beds, some from drying springs, wells, and also people are not getting water-Tankers.
Gaunem dam though completed, has no water treatment facility nor supply lines. Whereis the planning for a project commenced 17 years ago, and completed 6 years past, wasting the public property by no-use.’
There is severe unemployment in the taluka, and yet more than 25 sheds are lying unutilised at the Canacona Industrial Estate, which would have given employment to Canacona youth if these sheds were put to use for businesses.
As for the Gaunem dam, though it was completed 6 years ago, no water treatment facility nor pumping facility is in place. The government already wasted 17 years, but where is the planning to supply water for irrigation and consumption?
There is no supply chain, and this dam would have eased the lives of more than 6000 people who are presently staying in Khotigao and Gaondongrim, going through every difficulty for 4-6 months during all these years, virtually forced to cry out for water.
“You must have seen a number of videos where people draw water by digging pits in dried-up riverbeds, filing their utensils from dried-up wells, gasping for water from little flowing spring points,” he said.
Coming heavily on the government, Borkar said, the double engine has miserably failed.
“BJP has governments in the Cente, State, and even the Canacona MLA though occupying the Speakers post is also a BJP man. Heard PWD had previously prepared an estimate for 40cr, which has now again been re-estimated to 70 cr. Why this delay inspite of double engine governance. Why is this not happening? Central and State governments are BJP, and Canacona MLA, who is a speaker, is BJP; why is this dam not being used? Why are people not getting the basic need of water fulfilled? When govt says Har-Ghar Jal, Atmanirbhar Bharat, Swyampurn Goem, Antodaya Tatwa, where all these tatwas have reached? This double engine is completely broken and has miserably failed,” he said.
He said RG will also write letters to the concerned and also raise this issue in the assembly if your MLA doesn’t raise them himself, and we will expose this government’s callousness forthcoming to the rescue of the people.
Viresh Borkar also visited the youths of Gaondongrim and Khotigao and took stock of their situation, particularly their unemployment status.
