Team Herald
PONDA: With Goa heading towards a water shortage this month, the Water Resources Department has already started fetching water stored in three mining pits including two from Codli Sesa Mines and one from Satone, Dabal.
It is learnt that the water from these three mining pits is released to Opa plant through pipes and canals, which the officials say would last for another 15 days.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, officials said these three pits have storage capacity of 15 MLD. If such a situation arises, then Opa would have to rely on Ganjem Plant and Salaulim Dam. The situation could turn worse as Opa could face severe water shortage if the monsoon fails to arrive in time.
The water levels in the Opa River basin have dipped below the normal limit and the Water Division of the Public Works Department has made all efforts to manage water storage by curtailing the water supply to some extent since Tuesday.
Justifying the reduction in water supply by 15 percent, a PWD official said this step has been taken to manage the water available in the river basin. The situation could turn critical if there are no monsoon showers within a fortnight.
It may be recalled that on Saturday, PWD Chief Engineer Vijaykumar Verenkar has requested people, especially the residents of Panjim, to be economical and use water very judiciously.
He had said, “On Thursday the water levels at Opa dipped to 2.15 metres against the normal of 2.5 metres which is needed to pump to the capacity and supply to the Tiswadi taluka. We have begun pumping water from Selaulim and Anjunem into Opa and trying to maintain the level.”
About the continuation of the supply, he had said, “The water has to be treated and therefore since we are unable to pump water to the treatment plant as we would earlier, there will be shortage of water and the only way to ensure that everyone gets a share of the water is to cut down on the number of hours.”
Meanwhile, the further rise in demand for water supply from the upcoming townships at Kadamba plateau, Old Goa, in Tiswadi and other areas, a dedicated 27-MLD plant is constructed at Opa.
The main source of the Opa water works is the Khandepar River, which originates in Karnataka and flows through the Dudhsagar waterfall. The other tributary, which joins the river, is the Kalem River flowing from Sanguem.
When the water level at Opa basin reduces, it gets water from Selaulim Dam, Ganjem water treatment plant and the mining pits situated on the banks of Opa River and its tributaries.
The Ganjem water treatment plant fetches 35 MLD water from the Mhadei River at Bolcornem bundhara and pours it in the Opa River and the Selaulim treatment plant pours 50 MLD water in the Kalem River, which flows to the Opa treatment plant.
