Panaji, Jul 5 (IANS): Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said that the government will not tolerate opposition to the construction of 'Bandharas' (check dams), as water storage is important to combat water shortage issues.

Sawant, during a program in Panaji, urged people to support developmental work like Bandharas.

“Due to the delay in rain this year, we faced a shortage of water. We need to construct bandharas at new places. We tried to construct one at Curti-Ponda in South Goa but the people are opposing it. But in future we will not tolerate such opposition,” he said.

He said that the government is planning to construct Bandharas at four places in the state to tackle water shortage.

“People should support such projects. If they don’t (support) then we will have to suffer. If we can store water in large volumes then it can be supplied after purifying for potable use,” Sawant stated.

Many places in the coastal state faced water scarcity issues due to the delay in the monsoon, which was delayed by almost ten days. Locals from many areas had vented their anger over the irregular supply of potable water.

Water Resource Minister Subhash Shirodkar had earlier said that water levels of dams had come down due to the delay in the monsoon. However, the Opa water treatment plant at Ponda in South Goa had enough water due to rainfall in the Mhadei basin at the Goa-Karnataka border, which flows to this plant.

The people of Goa fighting to protect the Mhadei river have on many occasions expressed concern that the state will face water scarcity if the Mhadei water is diverted by Karnataka.

Goa and Karnataka are currently locked in a dispute before a central tribunal over the Kalasa-Bhanduri dam project across the Mhadei river.