Sub-standard work damaging Tillari canal: Dodamarg locals

Keri: Repair work on the left bank of the main canal of the Tillari irrigation project is currently on which has again hindered the regular water supply to Goa. This portion of the canal had got damaged on January 25 at Khanyale village in Dodamarg taluka of Sindhudurg district in Maharashtra and officials of the water resources department (WRD) of Goa and the Maharashtra have been repairing the damage since.However this is not the first time that such damage has affected the water supply to Goa. Tillari locals allege that it is the sub-standard work carried out on the main canals as well of the distribution channels which is repeatedly affecting the flow of water to Goa.
On June 25 last year the left bank of the main Tillari canal burst at Khanyale and flooded the Yelpai rivulet in Avade, Dodamarg resulting in major losses to agriculture and horticultural crops in the area. A few years back a major breach in the main canal at Parme village had affected the water supply to Goa.
The Tillari irrigation project is a joint venture between Goa and Maharashtra and was started as far back as 1965 when an area of seven villages of the Dodamarg taluka was taken up for development. Though the aim was to provide water for irrigation to a command area of 11,970 ha in Bicholim and Bardez taluka through the left bank of the Tillari canal, there have been repeated incidents of the canals bursting which has in turn affected the flow to Goa.
“The sub-standard work on the main canals and distribution channels is repeatedly affecting the flow of water to Goa. Though we had brought the leakages in the left bank main canal to the notice of officials of Tillari project in Maharashtra, they did not pay heed which led to the canal bursting once again,” said Suhas Desai, a youth leader from Dodamarg.
Immediately after the damage was reported, officials from WRD, Goa, visited the spot and after holding discussions with their counterparts in Maharashtra, took necessary mitigation measures. “As Goa’s Bardez, Pernem and Bicholim taluka depend on this canal for irrigation and drinking water needs, we have urged Maharashtra officials to put a pipeline in place on priority basis. Presently our officials have already taken steps to provide 80-million liters per day (MLD) raw water from the Amthane reservoir and 20MLD from the Colvale river to the Assonora water treatment plant. In order to cater to the irrigation needs we are pumping water from various sources. Our officials are continuously facilitating the repair work of the canal in Khanyale,” said Goa WRD chief engineer Shrikant Patil.
Since 2009 this ambitious multi-crore project has been a major source of drinking and irrigation water needs of Goa’s Bardez, Pernem and Bicholim talukas.