PONDA: The people of Ponda and Tiswadi may have to grapple water scarcity in the dry months from March to May, as the diversion of the waters of River Mhadei via the Kalsa-Bhandura dam project is likely to hit supply to the Opa Water Treatment Plant, say sources in the Water Resources Department.
The OPA Plant, located in Ponda’sKhandepar village, supplies around 160 MLD (million litres per day) of water to Tiswadi and Ponda talukas.
The Opa Plant gets its water from the Dudhsagar( Mhadei) river which enters Goa in the form of the Dudhsagar Waterfall. There are at least 18 bandharas along this river as it flows downstream to Opa, that stock water to meet the State’s summer requirements.
Besides this, 48 MLD of water from Salaulim Dam released through the Kalay River also flows into the Opariver, where six bandharas store water.
In addition, the Ganjembandhara at Usgao that is based on the Mhadei river flowing from Sattari also augments the supply of water to the Opa Plant through the Usgaonullah, especially during the summer months when the water levels in the Opa dam dip drastically.
If the essential waters of the Mhadei are diverted before they flow through Sattari, the Ganjembhandara will not store sufficient water for the months of March, April and May, and thus will not be able to augment the Opa Plant’s supply, which will in turn lead to water shortage for the people of Pondataluka and most of Tiswadi, including Panjim and Bambolim.
The capacity of the Opa Water Treatment Plant capacity has been increased to 160 MLD and around 25 MLD of water is pumped into it from the Ganjem-Usgao barrage in the summer months.
