Lakhs of people in Tiswadi and Ponda talukas of North Goa are facing water shortage because mining activities in the catchment area of Opa Water Treatment Plant in Ponda are hampering the plant’s functioning.

The plant, constructed by the Portuguese, is the oldest in the state and is built across the Khandepar River. With a capacity of 115 million litres per day (MLD), it supplies water to Panaji, Ponda and 55 villages. “Due to mining activities, the turbidity of the water has increased manifold and the filters at Opa Water Treatment Plant cannot filter it anymore,” said environmentalist Ramesh Gawas. There are four mines in the plant’s catchment area, Damodar Mangalji, Seza Goa, Velinkar Mines and Salgaocar. “Mining reject flows into the Khandepar and is responsible for increasing the turbidity of the water,” added Gawas. 

Gawas’s claim is supported by a June 2008 report of Goa’s public works department. Increase in turbidity chokes the filter bed and requires treated for cleaning the filter, states the ‘Report on Water Supply System—Monsoon Problems’. The report indicts mining activities as the main factor responsible for increased turbidity during monsoons and the consequent limited production at water treatment plants in the state.

http://www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20080715&filename=news&sec_id=4&sid=27