Rain plenty,yet not enough to drink

“From 6 am to 5 pm on Wednesday,the four dams supplying drinking water to city had registered as much as 1.77 TMC. On Tuesday,the dams added storage of 2.75 TMC,” said Shivaji Bholbhat,executive engineer,Khadakwasla irrigation division.

Though there is no respite in water cut,continuous rainfall forced irrigation authorities to release around 200 cusecs from Khadakwasla dam through the canals in the morning. Khadakwasla dam received over 70 mm rainfall on Wednesday. By noon,the dam was filled to 72 per cent of its storage capacity.

By Wednesday afternoon,Bushi dam in Lonavala was full. Heavy rainfall in the downstream areas had also caused widespread flooding 50 kms away from Pune in Kamshet and Karla.

Till early morning on Wednesday,the Pavana dam recorded 506 mm rainfall,Mulshi dam 247 mm,Panshet 194 mm,Varasgaon 197 mm and Temghar dam 257 mm. Rains continued throughout Wednesday when all the four dams received around 70 mm rainfall each.

Pune is now facing a 40 per cent water cut while it is 20 per cent in Pimpri- Chinchwad. This is because last year,when there was a 20 per cent cut in water,the city dams had 7 TMC of storage levels. Pune needs at least 12 TMC water to tide over the next year.

According to director of weather section of IMD,Pune,Medha Khole,as the low-pressure area over coastal Orissa and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal is still persisting,the city is expected to witness rainfall in the next two days. “However,the rainfall may get reduced a bit in the city as compared to the past two days,” she said.

Water cut: Rollback unlikely as of now

Nisha Nambiar

Divisional Commissioner Dilip Band said though the situation has improved in all dams,there was a need for a long-term assessment before any decision is taken on a rollback in water cut. “If rain continues,we might consider a slight rollback in three days. We will consider the live storage before taking any decision,” he said.

The two days of heavy rainfall saw the dams at 4.52 TMC as against the 27.72 TMC required for a proper water supply in the district. “We are holding regular meetings with the irrigation officials and the civic officials. We will prepare the schedule after discussion.”

Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Asheesh Sharma also said there would be no rollback in the 20 per cent water cut in the industrial town though there was an appreciable rise in water stock of Pavana dam.

Irrigation and Water Resources Minister Ajit Pawar had told a recent meeting that even if the conditions improve,the water cut will continue till a long-term plan is in place.

Meanwhile,the district administration is planning to hold a day-long workshop on Friday for preparing long-term measures for water conservation.

Mahabaleshwar pounded: It was the tourist town of Mahabaleshwar that received the highest rainfall of 410 mm in 24 hours. The town also saw heavy downpour on Wednesday and till 5.30 pm,18.1 mm rainfall was recorded.