Mhaisal dam water enough for 2 months: WRD official

Ponda: The Mhaisal dam has sufficient water and there is no need to curtail the supply, said Sunil Shet, assistant engineer who oversees the water treatment plant at Panchawadi. He said that the plant provides an additional 2MLD water to the Panchawadi and Shiroda villages.The storage capacity of the Mhaisal dam that provides water to the entire Panchwadi village and parts of Shiroda is 436.8 HaM (hectare metre). Shet said the water is sufficient to cater to the drinking water needs of both the villages for two months.The 230m-long dam’s full level is 26m and on Thursday the level was at 20.5m. Last year, on the corresponding date, the level was at 20.1m, which is 39cm high.WRD officials attribute the late withdrawal of monsoon for more water this year despite the scorching heat.The Ponda taluka mainly gets potable water from Opa water treatment plant. However, the Shiroda and Panchawadi villages get water from Panchawadi plant whereas Borim gets 10MLD water from Shelpe plant at Selaulim Dam.The Opa Water Works has five treatment plants that collectively supply around 161 MLD water to Ponda and Tiswadi taluka, said Shet, adding that the water treatment plants draw raw water from the Opa river, which had 3.5m level on Thursday.The water resources department has so far opened four bandharas, including Collem 1, Collem 2, Kumbharwada and Matojanwada to rejuvenate the Opa river, said Sadanand Naik, assistant engineer of WRD responsible for maintaining the water level at Opa river.