Dam water will be released by November 14 for agriculture: WRD minister

PANAJI: Water from dams will be released for agriculture activities from November 14 onwards and there will be no shortage of drinking water, said minister for water resources Subhash Shirodkar, on Thursday. He added that two dams will be taken up in Dharbandora and work on them will be started soon.
Shirodkar said that water from six dams was usually released by November-end or in December, but when he visited Sanguem and Quepem recently, farmers requested him to release water on time to take up agriculture activities.
Stating that the dams have sufficient raw water, Shirodkar said that seven talukas in Goa depend on agriculture and around 8,000 farmers are involved in farming activities. "Post-Covid, Goan youth have taken up agriculture and horticulture," he said.
"In February and March, we have to judiciously use water for drinking as the Maharashtra government is likely to take up repair work of the Tillari canal to resolve the breach issue," the WRD minister said, adding that the WRD will store Tillari dam water to avoid shortage to Porvorim.