PONDA
At a time when many parts of India are hit by a drought, the Opa Water Treatment Plant at Khandepar, which supplies water to Ponda and Tiswadi talukas and some areas of Dharbandora and Raia (Salcete), has taken measures to combat water shortage during the summer.
Officials at Opa have also sought support from its 6.5 lakh consumers to use water wisely, as part of efforts to save water.
Speaking to The Goan, Water Supply Executive Engineer Dilip Dhavalikar said they have taken measures to fix leakages in the pipelines linked to the Opa plant.
“Our field staff keeps a close watch on such situations. The supervisors, plumbers, labourers and meter readers take note of such leakages and attend to them,” he informed.
He also informed that a Complaint Cell also attends to complaints and communicates it to the office concerned.
“During summer, water consumption increases and hence, everyone should use water judiciously. Don’t waste single drop of water,” Dhavalikar appealed to consumers.
According to officials, the water level at Opa on Thursday was 2.37 metres and the situation would be considered serious if the water level drops below 2 metres.
According to Opa WTP Assistant Engineer Sudhir Parab, the plant has a network of five pipelines for distribution of water from north to south. They are classified as blue line, green line, red line, white line and Nirankal line.
The Blue line, a 900 mm diameter ductile iron pipe, is operational 24 hours, supplying water to Panaji and surrounding areas. Distribution to this line is never stopped unless the pipeline is ruptured or faces a technical problem. The pipeline is about 60 kms in length and if water is shut down along this pipeline, it takes over four hours to supply water to its destinations.
The Green line is a 750 mm diameter cast iron pipe and provides 24-hour water supply to Bhoma, Old Goa, St Estevam, Marcela and Chorao.
The Red line is a 750 mm diameter cast iron pipe and supplies water to Tisk-Usgao, Dharbandora, Marcaim and Mangeshi. Water to this line is released at 4 am and stopped at 6 pm.
The White line is a 750 mm diameter cast iron pipe and provides water to Ponda, Usgao, Shiroda, Kavalem and Bandora. It also supplies water to Raia and water to this line is released at 3 pm and stopped at 7 am the next morning.
The Nirankal line is a 750 mm diameter cast iron pipe and provides water to Nirankal whenever required.
“All these areas have water reservoir tanks and store water distributed from Opa plant. Everyday, 140 MLD water is taken for filtering and almost 138 MLD is distributed. Our workforce is present here for 24 hours and we take care that no snag develops in distribution,” said Parab.
“Apart from flow of Dudhasagar river, water is also pumped from the tributary of Selaulim river and from the Ganje (Mhadei) river. This helps us maintain the water level,” Parab added.
“The ‘reduced level’ (above sea level) of 2.5 metres should be maintained for continuous flow of clean water.”
According to other sources at the plant, the Opa plant does not have any problem to maintain water levels from the Dudhasagar river to the treatment site till January. After that, water has to be pumped from other rivers.
