Panaji: As Goa pursues its case in the Supreme Court to stop diversion of the Mhadei tributaries by Karnataka, work by the state water resources department (WRD) is on to begin construction of eight new minor dams on the Mhadei to better utilise the water available to Goa.Officials said the survey for two of the dams has been completed by the department and work of preparing cost estimates is in progress.
For six other planned dams, it has been decided to appoint a consultant to carry out the survey and other work, which is expected to expedite the projects.“Altogether eight dams, including two minor dams, have been planned. The survey has been completed for two of the dams by the department and the process of preparing detailed project report (DPR) for them is presently on. One of the dams on which the survey has been completed is in Kajumol in Mollem and the other in Tatodi, both in Dharbandora. Once the cost estimates are prepared, we will tender the work,” said WRD engineer Dilip Naik.Of the other six dams planned, two are in Dharbandora and four in Sattari, Naik said.“In the case of the six other dams for which survey is yet to be carried out, it has been decided to appoint a consultant. The tender has been opened for consultancy,” Naik said.He said that the state is keen to starting work on these new dams at the earliest.In the 90s, Goa govt had appointed a panel of experts to prepare a masterplan of water potential of the Mandovi river basin to meet the state’s long-term needs. The panel submitted its report on Jan 31, 1999, identifying 61 locations for dams in the basin. Accordingly, the Anjunem and Amthane reservoirs were readied. However, work on 59 other projects could not take off at the time.In 2020, the state finally decided to begin work on 10 of the dam locations. While four are in Sattari taluka—at Golali, Dongurwada, Zarme and Keri, three are in Kajumol, Suktoli and Tatodi in Dharbandora. In Ponda, two of the minor project locations are at Nirankal and at Codar. One project location is at Advalpal in Bicholim.As Goa submitted earlier before the Mhadei water disputes tribunal, the state intends to meet the demand for its ‘major uses’ through these projects, identified by the panel of experts.As per the masterplan, the 61 dams can meet Goa’s water requirement up to 2051.
