PORVORIM: The over two year wait for piped water of the residents of Kadamba plateau will come to an end by march 2019, said minister for PWD and transport Ramkrishna Dhavalikar on Thursday.
He however, put a rider to his assurance by saying that water supply to Ribandar, Kadamba plateau and Panaji would depend on the completion of the 27 MLD water treatment plant at Opa.
Since early 2017, residents of Kadamba Plateau have been petitioning the government for piped water.
The residents currently depend on a steady stream of water tankers and bore wells for their water needs.
“Water supply to the residents of Kadamba Plateau will be made available only after the completion and commissioning of 27 MLD Water Treatment Plant at Opa,” PWD minister Ramkrishna Dhavalikar informed lawmakers in a written reply.
The minister said that his department had already begun the work to lay the water pipeline along the plateau and the residents could expect piped water by March 2019.
Kadamba plateau, which is a less than five kilometers away from the state capital, is emerging as a real-estate hotspot with several residential projects, three major schools and at least one major hospital coming up in the vicinity.
With the Old Goa-bypass being commissioned, the area is emerging as an urban outgrowth of Panaji but lack of proper water supply and power infrastructure has been a dampener.
“The work of laying of pipeline along NH 4A in Kadamba Plateau is in progress and will likely to be completed by March, 2019,” Dhavalikar said.
Residents of Kadamba plateau have held multiple ‘jal satyagraha’ and silent protests to celebrate Liberation Day and to voice their disappointment over the long-term water scarcity in the area despite government assurances.