Dhavalikar: Kadamba plateau will get Opa water from June

PONDA: Public works minister Ramkrishna Dhavalikar announced on Wednesday that the proposed 27 MLD water treatment plant at Opa-Khandepar in Ponda taluka would be commissioned in June. The ambitious project would provide relief to several citizens, especially to residents of the new township at Kadamba plateau at Bainguinim, who presently have to rely on water supplied by tankers.

Following the growing the rising demand of drinking water from Panaji and surrounding areas, it was proposed to set up an additional water treatment plant at Opa to provide potable water exclusively to Panaji and Kadamba plateau. The government aims at completing the plant by June despite some civil work and the entire electrification work of the pumping station still incomplete.

The work is being undertaken by Gharpure Engineers, the company that has constructed the major highways for the Golden Quadrilateral project.

The pipelines have been laid from Opa to Panaji and a 5,000 cubic metre master balancing reservoir (MBR) has already been constructed on a hillock in Curti where the water would be treated and then released through gravity. The authorities have even tested the level of pressure to the treatment plant on the hillock.

The work of constructing the water treatment plant commenced in 2013 and was to be completed four years ago, in 2015.

Presently, around 116 MLD of treated water from the existing four plants at Opa is supplied to 90% areas of the Ponda and Tiswadi talukas. These areas include Panaji, Bambolim, Taleigao, Ribandar and Ponda taluka.

The new 27 MLD water treatment plant will only supply water to Panaji and the Kadamba plateau.