Maharashtra dams at 52 percent capacity; stock to last till July but Vidarbha a concern

Mumbai: Dams in Maharashtra have 52 percent water stock of their capacity, which is 2 percent higher compared to the corresponding period in 2017, a Water Resources department official said on Wednesday. “Dams in the state have 761 TMC water as on Wednesday, which is 52.83 percent (of their capacity). There are 3,246 dams of various size across the state that have a total water storage of 1,338 TMC (thousand million cubic feet),” he said. The storage of water in dams was 74.47 percent at the end of September 2017, the official said. The monsoon in Maharashtra generally gets over by September. “In February 2017, the total water stock was 50 percent,” the official said. “There was a good spell of showers over Marathwada in September last year which helped the dams in the region to have a good storage of water for remaining year,” he said. [caption id=“attachment_4052759” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] By September 2017, 232.48 TMC water storage (73 percent) was recorded in Marathwada dams. “Today, the storage has come down to 122 TMC (47 percent) and it would be sufficient till July,” according to Water Resources department officials. The only challenge before water resources department is Vidarbha region in east Maharashtra. “By the end of monsoon in 2017, Nagpur division had 47.32 percent water storage while Amravati had 83.28 percent. Today, the water level has shrunk to 39.71 percent in Nagpur division and 40.63 percent in Amravati division,” officials said. Compared to these regions, central Maharashtra is comfortably placed. “Pune and Nashik revenue divisions had 589.90 TMC water (89.27 percent) and 197.81 TMC (81.93 percent), respectively, at the end of the monsoon season. It has now come down to 357 TMC (66 percent) in Pune division while 120 TMC (57 percent) in Nashik division. Compared to other divisions, Pune and Nashik are comfortably placed,” the officials said. The Konkan region, which receives maximum rainfall in the state, now has 81 TMC water stock which is 42 percent of its capacity. “At the end of the monsoon season, the dams had 123. 45 TMC water which was 94.9 percent of the total capacity,” they said.