Summary:
Bicholim: With tap water connections of some residents of Dhabdaba, a southern ward on the Bicholim municipal council (BMC), being disconnected due to non-payment of arrears, the Bicholim mamlatdar Pravinvijay Pandit has directed the Sesa Goa Vedanta mining company to clear the bill payments of the villagers without further delay . However, this year, the mining company abruptly stopped paying the bills.Locals realised this only when, on June 11, water department officials arrived in Dhabdaba to cut the tap water connections.Despite requests, the company failed to clear the dues after which villagers approached the Bicholim mamlatdar for a solution. As a result, many wells in the village had run dry.In 2012, residents planned an agitation against the mining company, but the company, after holding talks with them, assured the villagers of the provision of new tap water connections and that their water bills would be paid.For a few years, residents whose wells had dried up were provided water connections and their bills were paid. He also warned the company about face penal action by the public works department over the pending payments.Sources say that large-scale mining activities, including deep excavation, undertaken by the company a few years ago, had resulted in the depletion of the water table..