Environmentalist and Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan Vice President Nandkumar Kamat is at a loss of words to explain the Government's inefficiency to check whether water supplied in people's homes was actually safe for drinking. Addressing a press conference on the eve of World Environment Day that falls tomorrow (June 5), Kamat lamented, "What we are drinking is actually poison water. There are no quality checks and the Government has not bothered to address the problem in spite of reminders and individual representations.' All concerned, including the Goa Pollution Control Board, have failed to address the most important issue of water quality check, while the Government continues to mislead the people on the issue, he charged. Coming to the rivers flowing through Goa, Kamat said these were laden with heavy metals and it is time the Government sits back and takes note of the situation. While Kamat was all praise for the water-harvesting scheme of the Government, he lamented that the existing rainwater structures were being neglected. He impressed upon the need to document and notify all of these. President MBA Nirmala Sawant too poured forth her angst against the bad state of the State's rivers. Dredging is being carried out and there is no control whatsoever, she derided. "Traditional wells need to be preserved to have enough flow of water,' she advised. She said MBA intends to keep a date with Environment Day tomorrow by submitting a charter of demands to the State Government asking their intervention to safeguard Goa's water resources. The charter will be presented to the Water Resources Minister and will be also sent to all panchayats, she informed. Sawant said the charter had evolved at a workshop held on May 17 at Old Goa where Goa's water security, present scenario and future challenges were discussed. The charter, which notes with grave concern the lack of progress on the implementation of the State Water Policy of November 2000. It notes further the precarious ecological conditions of Goa's nine major river basins, the silted and polluted channels of 11 rivers/estuaries, manmade lakes and reservoirs, tanks, ponds, springs and aqueifiers.