Rights panel seeks answers in Dabolim polluted water case

Panaji: Goa human rights commission (GHRC), on Monday, issued notices to the chief executive engineer of department of drinking water, assistant engineer of water resources department, and the builder Prabhu Realtors, Dabolim, in a complaint over contamination of drinking water by residents of Prabhu's Violetta Complex.

The commission has called on the two authorities and the builder to file replies by April 10 and remain present in person or through their representative for the hearing on the same day.

The residents of Prabhu Violetta residential complex, Dabolim, filed a complaint with the Goa human rights commission seeking its urgent intervention in the issue of contamination of drinking water supply affecting around 200 residents, including newborn children, pregnant women, and the elderly at the complex.

They stated that they have been afflicted with chronic diarrhoea, with several cases clinically diagnosed and confirmed as typhoid.

They stated that the builder is presently only supplying water for a few hours in the day and refusing supply at night, which constitutes grave deficiency of service and direct denial of residents' basic human rights.

The residents are seeking directions to authorities to immediately decontaminate, repair, retest, and recommission the sewage treatment plant and water supply system so that it conforms to all statutory and technical standards before any further use.

They are also seeking periodic and independent water quality testing of water supply to the complex, with results made public and shared with residents.

They are also seeking the setting up of a commission of inquiry headed by a retired judge to investigate the role and responsibility of the builder/promoter, Goa state pollution control board, water resources department, PHED, local panchayat, and other agencies.