Water supply to Pernem still affected by Dodamarg landslide

Keri: The

landslide

at the Kalane mine in

Dodamarg

taluka has continued to affect the working of the Chandel

water

treatment plant which caters to drinking water needs of

Pernem

.

On Thursday morning the landslide at the mine continued to carry the overflow and wash-off of monsoon water mixed along with the silt. This has

affected

the 15 MLD (million litres per day) water treatment plant of Chandel, forcing officials to stop pumping raw water for the entire day.

Lok Sabha MP Vinayak Raut who represents the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency along with additional collector of Sindhudurg Mangesh Joshi and the tahsildar of Dodamarg Arun Khanolkar visited Kalane and instructed officials of the mine to take measures to stop the run-off entering low-lying areas.

Assistant engineer of PWD at Chandel, Balaji Phadte, told TOI, “Today the quantum of sediment in the raw water has been minimised. Our chemists have taken samples and found water usable for treatment. We are waiting for the report of the raw water samples sent to the laboratory in Panaji. As soon as this report is available we will start pumping water.”

The mining sediment in raw water of the Kalane river has been responsible for clogging of the sand filters, which has affected the running of the plant. In order to make such polluted water fit for human consumption, additional energy and time is required for treatment of turbidity.

Residents of Pernem taluka who rely on the Chandel plant have expressed apprehension about water pollution repeatedly caused due to the Kalane mine and have urged the Goa government to take steps to prevent such incidents.