PANJIM: The new State Minister for Water Resources Department (WRD), Subhash Shirodkar said the most urgent and important priority of the government is protecting River Mhadei.
“I will study the matter in detail first but rest assured, we will fight for Goa at the national tribunal and all the other appropriate authorities. We will work towards seeing that Goa gets its share of the river that is due to the State and fight any attempts to divert the river. This is our biggest priority,” said Shirodkar, after taking charge of the department.
Speaking about returning to the Cabinet as a minister, the Shiroda MLA said this was a big achievement as he was a minister over 15 years ago and to get this opportunity again is all because of the support he had received from his voters.
While thanking the Chief Minister and the BJP leadership for putting their confidence in him, Shirodkar listed out his other priorities.
Pointing out that the role of the WRD department is to make sure that all the households in the State get sufficient portable water via the Water Supply Division, he said the WRD’s objective will be to achieve self sufficiency in water supply.
He listed the capacity of the Dams in the State and the volume of water supplied across the State and said his first target is to see that Goa has enough water for the next 25 years and that there is enough water for the future too.
On this note, he said he will conduct a review of all the dams such as the one in Selaulim, Tillari, Anjunem and based on that assessment, they will work towards repair of such projects and how they can get the maximum benefit of them.
He pointed out that he has years of experience in water conservation and water resource management.
He added that they will also look at new Dam projects as well as minor irrigation projects.
“It is very important that we help the smaller sections of society. Take the farmers for example, we will work on canals and tributaries to see that they have adequate water supply,” said Shirodkar.
Speaking about the farming community, Shirodkar said they are his priorities as the Cooperation Minister. He referred to Farmer’s Cooperative Societies that exist and said he will help them address their grievances as well as provide ground –level support such as reconstruction of bhandaras etc.
He further added that he will also explore ways in which he can help other cooperative societies too as the common man should not be denied the benefits owed to them from such societies.
When asked if he was hoping to get the Education portfolio, Shirodkar said that was not the case and that he is happy with the portfolios given to him. He added that he has 50 years of experience in the education field and he will continue to help the State government. It may be recalled that Shirodkar is the Chairman of the State-level task force committee on the National Education Policy (NEP). Shirodkar is also the new Provedoria Minister.
