Water woes now in Calangute 31 May 2008, 0441 hrs IST,Rebecca Manari,TNN CALANGUTE: While the capital city has got some relief from its water woes, residents of all wards in Calangute, namely Gaurawaddo, Naikawaddo, Tivaiwaddo, Agarwaddo, Porbawaddo, Umtawaddo, Khobrawaddo and Sauntawaddo, have been getting little or no water supply for the past fortnight.
Although the lack of water supply to Calangute has been an issue since January, the past fortnight has literally been hell for residents as the supply has been cut off completely in some areas. Calangute sarpanch Joseph Sequiera, who admitted that the problem has been going on for a while now, informed TOI that the he had personally led the villagers in a morcha to highlight the issue, and though Calangute got some relief after this, it wasn't long before the problem started again. Sequiera added that the problem was that when the water is being released, instead of providing Calangute and Candolim with an equal water supply, Candolim is receiving a full steady supply 24 hours a day, while Calangute remains dry. Being the end of tourist season, and also because most hotels depend solely on wells for water, the hotels aren't badly affected by the water shortage, but the villagers have been bearing the brunt of it. Many households in Umtawaddo are in the process of digging wells, even as questions have been raised on the safety of the well water for consumption. Dr Joe D'Souza — former professor of microbiology, Goa University, who has done an extensive study on samples of water drawn from over thirty wells from Gaurawaddo, Khobrawaddo and other parts of Calangute, has stated that the wells in Calangute are 'contaminated by human and animal waste'. Put simply, the bacteria content in most of the wells here is way high above the accepted limit. The accepted Coliform Bacilli count per 100 ml of water is said to be 10 units; in order for it to be safe for consumption. However, after examination, the Coliform bacilli content was found to be 515 units before the monsoon, 425 units during the monsoon, and post-monsoon (that is at the peak of tourist season) it was a shocking 1800 units. Long term consumption of water from wells in Calangute, which has such high levels of bacteria, could lead to various kinds of gastric problems, pointed out Dr D'Souza.
