Goemkarponn desk
CANACONA: With all the commercial activities in Canacona taluka suffering a setback since last 13 months the water consumption has seen a decrease continuously for the second summer season in a row.
Due to which the Chapolim Dam considered to be the life line of the taluka has more water in store than what it used to have during normal times.
What is river Nile to Egypt is Chapolim Dam to the people of Canacona as since the Dam got commissioned in 1990’s the Dam water quenches the thirst of more than half of the population of the taluka and the decrease in level of water during summer season which normally happens is a huge worry for the locals here.
The Dam built in nineties has a catchment area of 6.83 sq km which receives a Mean Annual Rainfall of 3000mm and is amongst few dams in the world not to displace even a single family during its construction phase.
The Dam has a Full Reservoir Level of 38.25 Mts, Minimum Draw Level of 22.00 Mts, Gross Storage Capacity of 998.24 Hamts (9.9824 MCM), Dead Storage Capacity of 49.00 Hamts (0.49 MCM) and Live Storage Capacity of 876.58 Hamts (8.7658 MCM) and the stored water is used both for irrigation and drinking water needs of the taluka.
0.33 Hamts of water is released every day to irrigate command area close to the dam, this is done post January informed sources at WRD, Canacona, while 15 Million Litres of water from the dam is pumped into the Water Treatment Plant at Sristhal 5 Million Litres comes from the Talpona River at Ordhofond on a daily basis.
The Reduced Level (RL) of water on Friday at Chapolim Dam was at 33.4mt while on the same day in the preceding year it was at 34.13 mt, this was due to the last years lockdown sources at Water Resources Department (WRD) informed.
Sources at WRD also informed that these readings translate to a total storage of water in the dam at 610.67Hamts, while on the same day in 2017, 2018 and 2019 it was average 550Hamts.
The low consumption of water in the taluka during last season and this season is attributed to less commercial and tourism activities sources informed.
