Union govt to allocate Rs 280 crore to take up work at Anjunem dam

Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant, on Monday , said that the union govt has assured over Rs 280 crore to take up improvement work of Anjunem dam and the repair of its canal. He held a meeting with union minister for jal shakti, C R Patil, in Delhi.

Sawant said that work will be taken up by the water resource department (WRD). He added that state govt has already submitted a detailed project report on the dam’s development.

Besides Anjunem dam, Sawant said that they held discussions on strengthening irrigation projects in Goa and improving water distribution systems to ensure sustainable water management and enhanced support for agriculture and rural development in the state.

Sawant also met union minister for environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) Bhupender Yadav and discussed various aspects of sustainable development and green growth in Goa. They also talked about sand extraction in the state’s rivers, after which Yadav asked him to submit the reports prepared by National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) on the topic. Sawant said that Yadav has assured to examine the report and take a decision.

NIO has completed studies for Chapora, Mandovi and Zuari rivers. “NIO reports show that the majority of the sand deposits are in the salinity-influenced areas of Chapora, Mandovi and Zuari. Considering the peculiar case of Goa as highlighted in the NIO report and also considering the customary rights of the local population and extraction only by manual methods, amendments are being sought in the CRZ notification, 2011 and 2019 and sustainable sand mining guidelines, 2016 and 2020,” the CM said in the letter to Centre.

State govt has maintained that the prohibition of sand extraction under these notifications adversely affected the availability of sand besides the livelihood of dependent families.