Govt plans to meet drinking water requirement by 2027: WRD minister
State govt started work to meet the entire drinking water requirement of Goa by 2027, said water resources minister Subhash Shirodkar. 'For this, we are planning to set up many more water treatment plants across the state in areas that do not have one at the moment.
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The work of increasing the height of the Mhaisal dam is in this direction to make provision of raw water for these new plants,' he said.
The minister added that to achieve this goal, a new department of drinking water has been carved out, separate from the control of the public works department.
'In many areas of Goa, additional water treatment plants are needed. The chief minister has given general instructions that the drinking water issue should be fully resolved by 2027.
It is expected that the new department will help create the network of treatment plants needed to meet the shortage,' he said.
Goa is facing 38% non-revenue water, or loss of water from the supply chain due to old pipelines. The state has been vying for central govt assistance to replace the entire water supply pipeline network with a new one. Goa presently faces a shortage of around 65 MLD of treated water as against its requirement.
Goa also falls short of its raw water requirement during the summer months. Shirodkar already said that the state is constructing 100 more bandharas across various rivers to increase the storage of raw water. The state is working to take the total number of bandharas to 500.
Construction of a 250 MLD barrage at Rs 300 crore is expected to hugely enhance raw water storage for Bardez, Pernem, and Bicholim talukas.
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