PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said the State will petition the Centre to permit it to permanently use mining pits of dead mines for water harvesting.
"We may have to make changes in the laws. I have asked the Water Resources Minister Vinoda Palienkar to start communication with the Union Mines Ministry," Sawant said, adding that the process of harvesting water from the mining pits of abandoned mines which hitherto used to be closed needed to be formalised.
Emerging out of a top-level meeting with officials of the Water Resources Department which Palienkar also attended, Sawant said he reviewed the water availability situation in reservoirs of various dams in the State in view of the delayed monsoons. There is no reason to worry on the water supply situation," Sawant said, adding that there was enough water available in the reservoirs of all the dams.
Sawant said, officials including the executive engineers at the dams attended the meeting, where it was revealed that Salaulim dam holds enough for the next 40-odd days.
In Anjunem there is enough to suffice for 19 days and Amthane can service its dependent population for 125 days. The Panchawadi dam is the only one that can survive without rains for just 13 days, he said.
Sawant said the WRD was currently pumping approximately 100 MLD water on a daily basis from four mining pits into the Opa reservoir. Also, an additional 30 MLD water is pumped daily from the Ganjem dam.
Meanwhile, Sawant said his government intends to involve the local population instead of contractors to build 300 to 400 check-dams (bhandaras) wherever feasible across Goa to conserve and harvest water.
Local farmers and horticulturists besides NGOs and self-help groups will be involved, Sawant said, adding that instructions were issued to WRD Chief Engineer to begin identifying locations for such check-dams and identifying the local people to implement the idea.
Diversion of Mhadei
waters by K'taka
not to blame: CM
PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the diversion of Mhadei waters by Karnataka following the award by the tribunal last year, was "not the reason" for this year's acutely low levels experienced in Goa's dam reservoirs. Responding to a question Sawant said he had discussed the issue at the high-level meeting and WRD Chief Engineer Sandeep Nadkarni opined that it is not the only reason.
"Might be a few percentage. It is not totally diverted. Water from only two nallahs are diverted. That is not the reason," Sawant said, when asked if this year's acute water availability situation was due to diversion of Mhadei waters by neighboring Karnataka.
Sawant also declined to comment on the current legal position of the Mhadei dispute saying the matter was sub-judice and he will comment later after being legally briefed.
Monsoon session
from July 15
PANAJI: The Goa cabinet on Monday decided to hold a 20-day monsoon session of the Goa legislative Assembly starting July 15.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the assembly session will be held from July 15 to August 9.The session will the be first full-fledged session which Sawant will face as chief minister and leader of the House after he took over following the death of Manohar Parrikar on March 17. Until then, he was the Speaker of the Goa legislative assembly, a post he was elected to after the 2017 assembly elections.
This will be a full length session of the current Assembly after a long gap. Owing to Parrikar's illness, the House was in session for a total of just 16 in the whole of 2018.
Budgetary provisions for the August-March period of the current financial year will be one of the most crucial government business to be transacted in the monsoon session. It may be recalled that in the brief 3-day budget session held in January last, the Parrikar-led dispensation had taken a four-month vote-on-account to defray government expenditure for the April-July period.
