Maharashtra dams quarter full, water availability a big challenge ahead

PUNE/NASHIK/KOLHAPUR: Dams in Maharashtra are filled to one-fourth of their total storage capacity, posing a challenge for planners and farmers to ensure there's enough water for all.
With the monsoon onset over Maharashtra delayed and the threat of El Nino looming large, the agriculture sector is feeling the heat.

Across the state, the dams altogether have 23.21% live water stock of their installed capacity of 40,281 million cubic metres (mcum).On June 20 last year, the collective stock in the dams was 26.77% of their storage capacity.
The Pune division has 35 major dams with a live storage capacity of 12,444 mcum. The dams have only 9.98% stock available. Last year, these major dams had 12.89% water. Overall, all the major, medium and minor dams in the division can store 15,202 mcum water and are filled to 11.95% of the capacity, the lowest in the state.
Faizal Qazi from Osmanabad district said the long run of the monsoon last year meant they were not struggling for drinking water. “We usually get monsoon rain from mid-June. But this year, it is expected only by July 4. We don’t have major problems for drinking water. But our farms are dry.
Farmers have not done any sowing and it is likely to impact the entire kharif season,” he told TOI. Sangli district guardian minister Suresh Khade told TOI that the available stock in Koyna dam needed to be judiciously utilised. “Koyna has 11.54 TMC water.
We have stock left for drinking purposes till July-end, provided the supply for irrigation is restricted.” Moreover, to ensure drinking water availability, there will be a ban on lifting water from the Krishna river basin from time to time till the arrival of the rains. Jyoti Devkar, executive engineer of the water resources department (Sangli circle), said, “We will have to snap power supply to the motors and cancel the lifting licences for a year if the water is lifted for non-drinking purposes.”
The major and medium dams across Nashik division are 33% full as against last year’s 30%. A Rs43-crore plan has been prepared for drinking water. While planning the nearest source of refilling water tankers, the stock in the minor, major and the medium dams has been considered instead of the local storages. The local storages are more likely to go dry if there is no or less rain in days to come,” Nashik resident deputy district collector Rajendra Wagh said.