Kalammawadi dam water reaches jackwell; Patil, others offer prayers

Kolhapur: The Kalammawadi dam water level has reached the jackwell built up to supply clean and regular water to Kolhapur city for the next 30 years.Congress MLC Satej Patil, Congress MLAs Jayashri Jadhav and Ruturaj Patil along with former corporators of Congress and NCP visited the project site nearly 50km from the city. Satej Patil offered flowers to the water entering the jackwell section. From here, the water will be pumped to a highrise tank and the tap will be opened for supply to the city’s Puikhadi-based treatment plant using gravitational force.The project is a dream project of Satej Patil who, while campaigning for the 2009 election, had promised to get the project approved. He got it approved in 2013 and got Rs 480 crore sanctioned for it by the then UPA government. The work started in 2014. However, it got stuck and could not gather momentum because of permissions required from various departments, including the forest department.“I was informed that the water has reached the jackwell. So, I came here. We carried out a puja. I am hopeful that by August-end the project will be commissioned. I had taken up this challenge even though many before me had made promises, but could not deliver,” said Patil.The engineers said the electrical installation at the dam site will be taken up soon. Also, the cleaning of the pipeline laid on a 52km stretch will be carried out.