Panaji: A few residents at Arpora have been without water supply for more than a month, with govt yet to provide a concrete timeline for restoration, even as households bear mounting costs for private water tankers to meet daily needs.According to a grievance submitted by Lt Col D S Grewal (retd) on behalf of the residents, the community had made “numerous reminders and representations” since the disruption began, but had received only a communication advising them to seek permission from “another department” to cut a road.In his representation to the directorate of grievances, Grewal said no official is clear about which authority to approach or the procedure to follow to get the water supply restored.In response, the director of public grievances, Prasad Volvoikar, wrote to the department of drinking water saying, “Requested to redress and examine the grievance on a priority basis.”Grewal had first approached the Arpora village panchayat but was then told to go to the department of drinking water to get the water pipeline repaired. The residents were subsequently asked to approach the PWD for road-cutting permission. The last straw was the requirement to submit a site plan and Form I&XIV for a public road to obtain permission to dig.“They are just forwarding to different departments. We are the fag end of Arpora (Ghorbhat). This is a govt road. The water supply valve is under the road. This is not the way to provide public service,” said Grewal.He said the matter appeared to be stalled over inter-departmental coordination. He questioned why residents should be expected to navigate bureaucratic processes between govt departments when such coordination “should ordinarily be undertaken by the authorities concerned themselves”.Residents, many of them senior citizens, have endured weeks of inconvenience, with households compelled to spend on water tankers daily.Describing the official indifference as “ridiculous”, Grewal urged that the matter be escalated to the highest levels of govt, including the chief minister, if necessary.
