Calangute: WRD minister Subhash Shirodkar on Wednesday urged Goans to use water judiciously after a poor monsoon season, while assuring that the state has sufficient water to meet its needs because of initiatives undertaken by his department.Speaking after inaugurating a new water pumping station at Calangute, Shirodkar said that despite low rainfall, reservoirs will still have an adequate supply. “Even though there has been very little rainfall, even then, at the bare minimum, there will be three months’ water left in May at Selaulim and other reservoirs, enough for May, June, July,” he said.He added that once the new water treatment plant (WTP) at Pilerne is commissioned, the Saligao–Candolim–Calangute coastal belt will receive 10 hours of water supply daily.Referring to steps taken since 2022, Shirodkar said he moved to increase water availability by setting up pumping stations on the Kushavati and other rivers where water was otherwise “simply flowing away”. He noted that Salcete and Quepem were earlier dependent on Selaulim for their supply, but the new measures have reduced the load on the reservoir. “By taking these measures, we have saved around 150MLD at Selaulim every day,” he said.Shirodkar also reiterated his plan to expand water storage through new bandharas. “In 2022, I had said we needed to build 100 new bandharas to store water. Around 80 have been completed,” he said, adding that on Sept 25, he directed WRD engineers to complete the remaining structures by Oct 10. Stressing their importance, he said Selaulim and Tillari can be kept full only through such conservation measures. “We have to conserve the water that we have,” he said.
