Maharashtra: Water release from Temghar to complete pending repairs

PUNE: The state irrigation department has released water from the Temghar reservoir into Khadakwasla to make way for pending repairs to the structure.
The pending work is expected to cost over Rs700 crore and the department said it was waiting for the state government’s permission.

On Saturday, the water level in the dam dipped to 85%. The irrigation department aims to bring the stock down to the 50% mark by January.
Leaks had sprung up on the wall of the dam at the rate of 2,500 litres per second (LPS) in 2016, forcing officials to initiate repairs.As per a recent inspection, the seepage came down to 173.1 LPS during this year’s monsoon — the first time this number dropped below 200.
“There has been gradual drop in the rate of seepage. For nearly a month during the monsoon, the dam stored 100% water. It was then that we had observed seepage at the rate of 173.1 LPS, which indicates that the our earlier repairs were carried out effectively,” an irrigation official said.
As per official data, in 2016, water was leaking through the dam wall at the rate of 2,576 LPS, prompting immediate repairs. In 2017, the seepage dropped to 1,100 LPS and went further down to 400 LPS the year after. In 2019, the seepage had dropped to around 250 LPS, officials said.
“About 93% of the seepage has been arrested so far. However, about 20% of grouting work and 60% of shortcrete treatment are still pending,” the official said.
The pending work needs permission from the state government, the official said. The revised project report covering the pending work was by the technical committee to the government for the further approval. The proposal for around Rs710.9 crore includes completion of the remaining work and strengthening the wall.
Officials they expect to get permission to begin the remainder of the work in January and plan to complete everything by June.