JAIPUR: If the average rainfall doesn’t increase by September 15, then Jaipur,
Ajmer
and
Tonk
may face water supply cuts. According to officials of the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), water supply will be cut by 15% in Jaipur and Tonk, and 10% in Ajmer if rains do not occur in five days.
PHED ACS Sudhansh Pant took the decision after holding a review meeting with officials of the department on Friday. The state has received low rainfall and the
Bisalpur dam is only 32.30% full. This can create a huge crisis.
Additional chief engineer Manish Beniwal said that the department was looking into alternatives.
“We have already cut 5% of the water supply in Jaipur and Tonk. If by September 15, rainfall doesn’t occur, then we will further cut 10% water supply in both the cities and 10% in Ajmer. We are fully prepared for any crisis and will take appropriate action.”
267 dams in state emptyMany parts of the state are in a drought-like situation. Currently, out of 727 dams in
Rajasthan, 267 are empty, 313 are partially full and 125 full.
All the dams together have a capacity to store 12,626 million cubic metres of water in the state. But the total water level was 59.96% as on September 10, which is lower than the level on September 3, 2020 i.e. 71.10%.
The PHED recently announced water trains for Pali district by September-end as the water level in Jawai dam was just at 10 feet due to low rainfall. Along with main cities, Jawai dam supplies water to hundreds of villages in Pali district and the situation will become difficult for people in the coming days.
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