Kelawade becomes first village to harvest rooftop rainwater in Goa

SATTARI: The Kelawade village in Sattari earned the distinction of becoming the first hamlet in Goa, to launch the “Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting and the Bore Well Recharge Project.”

The villagers said, “The project, which is a direct water recharge project, was completed in two weeks. Built at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000, the project is made up of three techniques namely rooftop, surface runoff, and bore well.”

Through this project, till now Kelawade locals and the farmers have harvested 5150 m3 of water (51,50,000 litres). 

The project was completed in collaboration with the Energy and Resources Institute for irrigation purpose to make Kelawade an agriculture hub of Goa.

The villagers have submitted the detailed report of the project to the Water Resources Department and the Minister, who extended his full support to the villagers and asked them to form a committee of likeminded people. 

WRD Chief Engineer visited Kelawade and commended the villagers for their splendid work. 

Santosh Gad is the project’s expert advisor, while Vinay Gawas is the project director.

According to Kelawade locals, during the construction of Anjunem Dam, they were rehabilitated in 1984 and at that time the government had constructed a pump house to provide drinking water to the village, which was not in use. 

“In a letter to the Kerim panchayat, we requested it to issue NOC for using pump house for “rooftop rainwater harvesting” in the village. The panchayat accepted our request and provided NOC to construct the “Rooftop Rainwater Harvesting and the Borewell Recharge Project” in Kelawade,” said Vinay Gawas, a local.