Goemkarponn desk
SATTARI: Stating that the dry water taps for the past month is causing hardship to the villagers of Sonal-Sattari, locals have warned the PWD officials to rectify the problem at the earliest, failing which they will take morcha on Valpoi PWD office.
Highlighting the issue, Nagraj Ghasari, a villager, lamented about the domestic water tap of their village running dry for more than a month.
“For the past month, the water pipeline of our village has been completely running dry. We complained about the same to the Department of Public Works. Accordingly, the officials of PWD visited and inspected the village pipeline and stated that the issue would be rectified at the earliest.
But it has been weeks since then the issue is still pending”.
Stating that the acute water shortage is forcing locals to walk several kilometres to get even a single pot of water, Ghasari alleged that the pump operator releases the water during the inspection while shutting the valve off otherwise.
He warned that the locals would take morcha at the Valpoi PWD office if the issue were not rectified.
Speaking similarly, another villager Prasad Naik said the issue had also been raised at the local representative level, but no concrete solution turned up.
Chaya Babuso Naik, 54, said the water shortage has worsened over the past month, and with the beginning of the summer season, the situation has become more painful. “Villagers have to walk a far distance near the natural source to fetch water. All this while, we were relying on ponds and wells for water, especially those used for drinking purposes. With the commemoration of summer, the situation has started worsening. Depletion in the level of water quantity in the naturally dependent water sources is resulting in acute water shortage”, she added.
Naik further lamented that it becomes difficult for her and the other older women to walk kilometres and fetch water due to the age factor.
Locals demanded that the Public Works Department may come up with an alternate solution to tackle the issue if the existing water supply unit proved to be incapable of meeting the demand.
Suggesting locals said that the PWD might think of connecting the affected village pipeline to the supply unit of the Bhatwadi village water pipeline unit as a temporary solution.
Refuting all the allegations, Sneha Desai, Junior Engineer, PWD, said, “It is untrue that the water pipeline of the village is completely running dry. Their meter is running. They are getting the reading simply means that the tapes are running”.
Refuting the allegations further and stating that the villagers are getting water but not with pressure because there exists blockage in the pipeline, Desai said, “We received a complaint from the villagers just last week, taking cognisance of which we have already started the work of repair and maintenance”.
Adding, Desai said that the repair and maintenance team is continuously working at the site to detect and rectify the fault. “Since the water pipeline running through this village is lengthy, the blockage detection in the pipeline and rectification is taking time. Our maintenance team is continuously working on-site to work find the blockage. The problem will be solved at an earliest”, added Desai.
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