Canacona lacks safe drinking water

nt network
Posted on 2009-03-31
CANACONA- The Chapolim dam is the main source of water for domestic and agricultural needs of the people of Canacona taluka. But this water is not safe enough for consumption.
One can often see dead cattle and carcasses of wild animals living in the hilly catchment area, floating in the water, and with the onset of the monsoon, garbage and toxic material thrown in the open is washed into the Chapolim dam water.
The Vector-borne diseases in Canacona taluka are on the rise since the last five years and this is attributed to the polluted and untreated water that is being supplied by the PWD. The turbidity of the water is very high at many places and a PWD staff member admitted to this fact but said that it happens in the initial stage of pumping.
According to former sarpanch and panch of Shristhal village panchayat, Mr Suhas Velip, people living in the vicinity cremate or bury their dead and the ashes and remains flow into the Chapolim dam during the monsoon. Many people answer nature’s call, wash clothes and take bath which also dirties the dam water. The high incidence of kidney failure in this taluka is also attributed to the polluted water that is consumed by the people.
The numbers of kidney patients are rising in the taluka and 60-70 per cent of the patients admitted at the GMC and other hospitals for the ailment hail from Canacona.
Some doctors from the Canacona community health centre informed that a central team consisting of an epidemiologist and a microbiologist from NICD and a nephrologist from RML Hospital had visited Canacona from June 13-17, 2002, to assess the extent and probable cause of an unusual increase in kidney failure or chronic renal failure (CRF) cases in the area.
Besides that a team from the Indian Council of Medical Research’s National Institute of Occupational Health, Meghaninagar, Ahmedabad which had also visited the taluka and carried out environmental-cum-biological monitoring in February 2005.
It had stated that clinically the disease seemed to be similar to Balkan Endemic Nephropathy (BEN), which is an environmentally acquired disease, possibly caused by mycotoxin produced by fungi in mouldy cereals and food products, and aromatic compounds in drinking water.
Sources at the Canacona community health centre further said that till date, as many as 100 deaths have occurred due to renal failure, in the taluka. The study requires a coordinated approach between medical professionals, environmental geologists, environmental engineers and public health engineers, informed local doctors.
When contacted, some of the environmentalists like Mr Freddy Rebello said that the vector-borne diseases in the taluka are on the rise due to improper treatment of the water at the Shristhal water treatment plant in Canacona. He further added that apart from the Chapolim source, the PWD is utilising other sources to provide water to the people under the Rural Water Supply Schemes (RWSS). The water under RWSS is directly pumped to overhead water storage tanks from bore wells, open wells and springs. This water is not filtered and in some instances only chlorine is added. Mr Noel Correia from Polem while speaking to ‘The Navhind Times’ said that the water supplied to the residents of Polem comes from a spring which is left uncovered.
It is learnt that the High Court in September 2007, after referring to a report in an English daily, had taken cognisance of this water issue and had censured the PWD, Goa State Pollution Control Board and the Water Resources Department but even after almost a year and a half, very little has been done by these departments and the pollution board to safeguard the health of the people.