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Marathwada Reserves Low Reservoir Water Exclusively for Drinking
Marathwada has received much less rain than usual this year.
Because of this, many reservoirs do not have enough water.
Officials have decided to save water mainly for people to drink.
They will not yet decide how much water can be used for the next farming season.
Some dams, including Manjara, have especially low water levels.
The Sina Kolegaon project has no water stored.
Officials are sending patrol teams to stop people from taking water illegally.
They will review the situation after September.
Maharashtra’s Marathwada region will reserve water from low-storage irrigation reservoirs for drinking purposes.
The region received 388.3 mm of rain since June 1, against a normal 552.2 mm, a 29.7% deficit.
September rainfall so far is 5.2 mm, or 14% of the expected 38.7 mm.
The 11 major irrigation projects hold 123.32 TMC, or 67.73% of capacity, compared with 176.30 TMC last year.
Authorities will not plan for the upcoming Rabi season before September and will seize pumps used for illegal water lifting.
- Who
- The Marathwada administration, led in this announcement by Divisional Commissioner G. Shreekant.
- What
- Low-storage irrigation reservoirs are being reserved for drinking water, while irrigation planning is being deferred.
- Where
- Maharashtra’s Marathwada region, including Latur, Parbhani, Beed and Dharashiv districts.
- When
- The announcement was reported on September 7; rainfall totals cover the period since June 1, with September rainfall measured so far.
- Why
- Rainfall is below normal and reservoir storage is substantially lower than it was on the same date last year.
Key facts
- Rainfall since June 1
- 388.3 mm, compared with a normal 552.2 mm
- Rainfall deficit
- 29.7% across Marathwada’s eight districts
- September rainfall
- 5.2 mm, against an expected 38.7 mm
- Current reservoir storage
- 123.32 TMC, or 67.73% of the combined capacity of 11 major projects
- Previous-year storage
- 176.30 TMC, or 96.82%, on the same day last year
- Most affected project
- Sina Kolegaon has zero storage; its capacity is 3.15 TMC
- Manjara Dam storage
- 12.26% of capacity
- Nimna Dudhna storage
- 22.49%, compared with 74.67% on the same day last year
Quotes
G Shreekant
Divisional Commissioner of Marathwada
“The available water resources will be kept fully reserved for drinking purposes and no planning for the upcoming Rabi season will be undertaken. We will decide on planning for the next season after September.”
theprint.in
“Water from dams like Manjara, Makhni, which have low storage, has now been reserved for drinking purposes only.”
theprint.in
Sources
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