Fifth day without water in Panaji, CM says wait till Tuesday

PANAJI: For the fourth consecutive day, the state capital of Panaji continued to reel under water crisis with people even collecting rainwater to meet their needs, while many missed their Sunday Mass.


“We could not take a bath for two days. We have a private well which is contaminated, and we are using that water to flush our toilets,” said Arturo D’Souza, a resident of St Cruz, whose family couldn’t attend the church services on Sunday.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant did not provide any solutions to ease the water woes and said the supply from Opa will resume on Tuesday.

Earlier, the government had promised to resume water supply latest by Monday afternoon. Residents were completely dependent on tankers and packaged drinking water, while some people used the neighbhourhood wells and springs for their requirements.

Residents said this is one of the worst water crisis to have hit Panaji. “The government should have set up a special squad to deal with the crisis. No officers or PWD engineers are available,” Panaji mayor Uday Madkaikar said.

People blamed the government for mismanagement. “It will be a week without water for us,” said advocate Avinash Bhonsale, a resident of Mala.