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DRAFT OPEN FOR OPINIONS
* Formulated by State Water Resources Department, the water policy draft is open for suggestions and opinions
* The need to harness and manage the main rivers “ Terekhol, Chapora, Mandovi and Zuari has also been underlined in the draft
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PANAJI: The State Water Policy draft, which was unveiled on Thursday, has recommended inter-basin transfer of water in the State only in extreme cases, after providing for all the future requirements and needs of the basin including e-flows. Additionally, this should be done after evaluating the environmental, economic and social impact of such transfers.
The draft, formulated by the State Water Resources Department, has been kept open for suggestions, comments and opinion from the stakeholders and public.
The draft policy has suggested a few strategies to be evolved for better water management practices in the State due to increasing demand for water with growing population, rapid urbanisation, industrialisation and economic development.
These strategies include utilisation of storage sites for creating storages, estimation of e-flows in the rivers and their tributaries and oversee that these e-flows are maintained, interlinking irrigation and hydel schemes with urban and rural water supply schemes for integrated utilisation of the resources, identifying areas frequented by drought and water scarcity and envisaging and implementing various schemes to mitigate the problem.
Additionally, it has also suggested strategies like encouraging of water conservation measures like contour trenching and bunding, among others.
Presently, Goa has nine river basins “ Terekhol, Chapora, Baga, Mandovi, Zuari, Sal, Saleri, Talpona and Galgibag. The draft also stated that as none of the rivers in the State are snow-fed, there is a huge disparity between monsoons and summer months.
The draft also underlined the need to harness and manage the main rivers in the State “ Terekhol, Chapora, Mandovi and Zuari “ considering the necessity to maintain ecologically healthy environment for the welfare of the State as well as the environment.
