TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: Even as Goa government’s efforts to stall the construction of the Virdi Large Minor Irrigation Project built on the Kattika nullah, Dodamarg, have been unsuccessful, in its latest attempt it attempts to bring to the notice of the Water Disputes Tribunal the violations being committed by Maharashtra.
The Virdhi dam, work on which is on, when completed, will substantially affect the flow of the Valvanti river which is the main source of drinking and irrigation in parts of Goa. The dam has created much controversy in Goa and agitated people from Virdhi village itself, and opposed by Goa government, especially due to its long term detrimental effects on the State.
The Virdi dam in Maharashtra is just 500m away from Goa’s border and is being constructed on the Kattika nullah, a tributary of the River Valvanti, and is likely to affect the river’s water volume/flow in Goa. The dam is 2.45km from Goa’s Anjunem dam and the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary.
The Valvanti river is the main source of drinking and irrigation for large areas of Sattari, Bicholim and Bardez providing water to 40 MLD Padocem and 12 MLD Sankhali water treatment plants besides supporting the Anjunem irrigation scheme of the Goa government.
The dam was initially supposed to be 40.33 meters in height and 238 meters in length, but the specifications were changed to 50 mts in height and 780 metres in length unilaterally by the Maharashtra government. It will span a breadth of 736m as against the earlier 238 m.
The agreement for the dam was initially signed in April 2006.
Media reports say that locals of Virdhi village too allege that they were not taken into confidence by the officials of the Maharashtra Water Resources Department and the compensation paid to the affected families was very meagre. Proper procedure has not been followed while providing compensation and problems of the affected families were not solved, they allege.
Through the dam, Maharashtra wants to create live storage of 14.138mcm of water. No environmental clearances were obtained and no consent of authorities was obtained for modifying the Virdi dam project. However, Maharashtra continues its work and the state government has still not been able to do anything.
The government brought to the notice of the MWDT team that the Maharashtra South Konkan Canal Irrigation Development Corporation has undertaken work on the Virdi irrigation project and the work is in progress in Virdi. The team was informed that the dam changes including that the specifications were then changed for the third time to increase the storage capacity of the dam without informing Goa.
Officials also pointed out that work on the dam is being undertaken at Pattica nullah, which is one major source for the Valvanti River at Sanquelim.
