Only 0.7% water left in dams in Marathwada, 7.7% in Maharashtra

MUMBAI: With no sign of the monsoon hitting India yet, the dam water level in the arid region of Marathwada is down to a mere 0.7% of capacity. Across the droughthit state, the level of live water storage in dams is just 7.7%, the lowest in a decade at this time of the year, said officials.

On this date last year, the water level in the state’s dams was 18% while in Marathwada it was 14%.
As many as 32 of the state’s dams are now at dead storage level. This means that water from the dams cannot flow out of the sluice gates, but has to be lifted.
The drought has swept across 42% of the state and is the third such calamity in the last five years. It has affected 60% of the state’s farmers. The state received only 76% of normal rain last year.
Marathwada is worst affected by the water crisis, but it is tough-going across the state with the dam water level in North Maharashtra at 6.4%, in Western Maharashtra at 7.8%, in Vidarbha’s Nagpur division at 6.2%, and in Amravati division at 7%.
The government says the state has enough water and fodder to last till the onset of monsoon. “The monsoon is expected in the state between June 17 and 21. The forecast is it will be normal. We have made enough provision till the end of June,” said revenue minister Chandrakant Patil. The state has allowed 1,583 fodder camps catering to 10.6 lakh animals in the drought belt.
Across the state, 6,443 water tankers have been deployed. Of these, as many as 3,359 are transporting water to Marathwada. Up to 1,146 tankers are in the single district of Aurangabad in Marathwada.
Critics say the state needs to ban the cultivation of water-guzzling sugarcane in the historically arid region of Marathwada. “This belt is totally unsuitable for cane cultivation but the state refuses to ban it. The drought is man-made,” said water expert Pradeep Purandare.
He added that despite the drought, the bottled water business is booming. “The bottled water industry continues to have access to ground water. The public has also accepted this privatisation of water,” said Purandare. The severe drought has exposed the government’s claims that its flagship water conservation scheme, Jalyukta Shivar, would protect the state from drought, the expert added.