Water level in Maharashtra dams at record 95%

MUMBAI: Water stock in the 3,267 dams across Maharashtra is now highest in recent memory following heavy rain, but the monsoon, on its way out, has caused serious damage to standing crop across the state.
According to water resources department data, stock in 40-odd dams is 100%, while total stock in the state’s major dams is at 94.8% as against 87.4% last year and 35.2% in 2015.“We had a good monsoon, and the intensity of the withdrawing monsoon has been high. Rainfall was between 90% and 110% in most districts while it was between 124% and 157% in over a dozen districts,” a senior bureaucrat said.
Water stock in the mid-sized dams is 84.4% and in minor dams, it is 44.8%; last year, it was 57.6% and 33.9% respectively. On September 15, the stock stood at 91.9% in big dams, 72% in mid-sized dams and 32.7% in small ones.
The bureaucrat said that for the first time, Maharashtra had received equal rainfall across the state. In the past, there was grossly often inadequate rainfall in Marathawada and Amravati regions, resulting in most of the districts in these regions facing massive droughts. “For several years, we had to deploy water tanks in most of the districts in Vidarbha and Marathwada to tackle the need for drinking water. A few years ago, in Latur, the hometown of former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, prohibitory orders had to be clamped to tackle the law and order situation. “Following heavy rain and an extended monsoon, no tankers are now deployed in the state. In most of the dams, water stock is ample,” he said.
The bureaucrat said that in the recent past, most of the ongoing works of irrigation projects have been completed, following which the department has been able to enhance storage capacity. “For completing all the pending projects, we will require at least Rs 80,000 crore. The erstwhile Devendra Fadnavis government had drafted a plan for completion of pending projects, and the new government had to rethink about mobilizing sources for irrigation projects,” he said.