WELLS OF ALDONA
My first introduction to in-house wells was unfortunately through a dysfunctional well right next to the parking lot in my apartment complex. The building, I had learnt was fairly new. How could the well have ruined so soon then? Upon further prodding my nose into neighbors’ affairs, I got to know that the apartment complex was actually built after the demolition of a 100+ year old house, that belonged to one of my neighbors, Ms. Pascoal D’Souza. The house, that Mr. D’Souza’s grandmother had built, withered when the family moved away for work and education. When the house couldn't bear its own weight, the D’Souzas decided to bring it to ground and make an apartment complex instead. The apartment complex saved the land but ruined the well. We now have 24 hours PWD water-supply and the well lies dysfunctional, overgrown though still not dry.
This is not the story only from the D’Souzas, Its true for so many other houses in this inland village of North Goa. With the alarming rate of outward migration and increasing number of apartment complexes coming up, how soon will it be till be see this age-old practice of ground water utilization being ruined?
