State facing 80–85 MLD gap as supply falls short of daily demand, says LoP
Minister for Drinking Water Subhash Phal Dessai on Thursday informed the Goa Legislative Assembly that the State’s water production capacity is expected to reach 1,000 million litres per day (MLD) within the next six months to one year, with the department undertaking major augmentation of existing water supply schemes and construction of new water treatment plants totalling an additional 325 MLD.
Replying to a calling attention motion moved by the Opposition on water scarcity, Phal Dessai said that only nine per cent of consumers receive potable water for less than four hours a day, while the remaining population gets water supply ranging between eight and 12 hours daily.
“In the State of Goa, all areas are provided potable water supply and there is no acute water shortage, except in a few hilly regions. Water scarcity usually occurs during plant shutdowns for maintenance, power failures, breakdowns, pipeline damage, or breaches in the Tillari canal,” the Minister told the House.
He said the government plans to replace more than 6,000 kms of old pipelines in a phased manner at an estimated cost of over Rs 1,500 crore. As a priority measure, work has already commenced to replace 217 kms of pipelines.
The Minister also announced that all old water meters will be replaced with smart meters and a real-time water monitoring system will be introduced to keep a check on leakages and non-revenue water (NRW), which is currently estimated at 42 per cent. “This initiative will help the State generate additional revenue of Rs 120 to Rs 150 crore,” he said.
Phal Dessai explained that while the existing water treatment plants have a combined capacity of 674.5 MLD, the total requirement of the State stands at 695 MLD, resulting in a shortfall of 21 MLD. “We are in the process of augmenting 325 MLD of water, which will increase total water availability to 1,000 MLD in the coming six months to one year,” he added.
The proposed augmentation includes a 25 MLD water treatment plant at Ganjem, 30 MLD at Tuem, 100 MLD at Selaulim, 15 MLD at Morlem, 10 MLD at Menkurem, 15 MLD at Pilerne, 10 MLD at Cortalim, among others.
The Minister said the State is witnessing a continuous rise in water demand due to increased tourist inflow, economic growth, expansion of industries and trade, and the influx of migrant and floating populations.
Earlier, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao said that despite repeated assurances of achieving 24×7 piped drinking water, the government has failed to deliver. He claimed that while Goa’s daily demand for treated water is estimated at around 645 MLD, actual production and supply fall short by 80–85 MLD, forcing many households to depend on water tankers due to intermittent supply.
Stressing the need to assess the State’s carrying capacity, Alemao said the government continues to clear high-density housing and tourism projects despite mounting pressure on existing infrastructure and public utilities, without proper assessment of water availability.
RGP MLA Viresh Borkar also raised concerns over several residential and commercial projects receiving approvals without adequate ground-level assessment of water and infrastructure capacity.
MLAs from the ruling benches also flagged water scarcity issues in their respective constituencies, highlighting intermittent supply, low pressure and increased demand during peak months.
