PANAJI: The State government is planning several small dams and bhandaras across Goa in a bid to conserve water in the face of projected future paucity.
As of now, the Water Resources Department is drawing up proposals to build two small dams in Santa Cruz and in Alorna in Pernem taluka.
In Santa Cruz, the purpose of the dam is to reinforce the water storage capacity of the existing Bondvoll lake.
Sources in the Water Resources Department said it is also planning to come up with a scheme to build up to 200 bhandaras in collaboration with the local communities in talukas such as Ponda, Sanguem and Sattari.
The scheme will earmark up to Rs 5 lakh per bhandara but no contracts will be given out by the department to build these check-dams. Instead, local farming and horticulturist communities will be entrusted with the task of building the bhandaras and a protocol to disburse the funds to them will be worked out.
Apart from preserving rain water in multiple small reservoirs for use in agriculture, these dams and bhandaras will help in replenishing groundwater resources and help the State in tiding over the gloomy future projections of water scarcity, top officials in the WRD department have said.
