Margao: Water Resources Minister Subhash Shirodkar on Sunday said that the state will have a three-month surplus supply of drinking water heading into May despite a visible deficit in seasonal rainfall.
Speaking on the state’s long-term water security, Shirodkar said that Goa has an abundance of natural water bodies and that the Water Resources Department (WRD) has sufficient storage capacity and contingency reserves to meet drinking water and irrigation requirements.
“While Goa traditionally expects around 110 inches of rain, our department’s storage capacities are robust enough to manage complete water security even with just 80 inches of rain,” Shirodkar said. He said the WRD was relying on a multi-layered reserve strategy to mitigate potential water stress.
Primary dams are currently holding sufficient capacities, while the department is also drawing 40 to 50 million litres per day (MLD) of raw water from mining pits to feed the Padoshe water treatment plant, he said.
Shirodkar said the combination of dam management, mining pit utilisation and interstate channels would ensure continuity of drinking water supply during the peak summer months.
