Three TMC To Take Care Of Drinking Requirements
The state irrigation department has stopped release of water from the Khadakwasla dam for summer crops.
No more release is planned for irrigation before the monsoon and the existing 4.7TMC water stock in the three dams has now been kept reserved to meet the drinking water requirements in the city as well in the rural areas.
The existing stock in the dams is 3TMC less than last year’s storage of 7.73TMC during the same period. The officials of the civic administration and irrigation department, however, do not foresee a crisis as of now and have said that enough water will be made available at least till July15 without any additional cuts in the city’s existing water quota.
On Monday, the collective stock in the four dams was recorded at 16.11%. Storage in Khadakwasla was recorded at 27%, Panshet at 25% and Varasgaon at 11%. Stock in Temghar has already reached zero%.
The city lifts maximum 1.5TMC water every month. For the next two months (till July 15), it will require 3TMC water. The irrigation department has said that while setting aside water stock for the city to last till July15, it has taken into consideration the evaporation losses and water requirements for the Palkhi procession and demand from smaller towns.
The irrigation department has been urging the civic administration to bring down water usage to save more water till the arrival of monsoon.
Irrigation department officials said that Khadakwasla dam releases water for crops in two rotations during the summer season. This year, the second rotation has been cancelled due to the water crisis. Besides cancellation of the rotation, release of water during the first and only rotation was also curtailed to 2.6TMC from the earlier planned release of 4TMC.
As per the irrigation department, the city’s average water usage for the last two months has been around 1.5 TMC, which is more than the stipulated quota of 1150MLD.
TIMES VIEW: The Pune Municipal Corporation should take measures to conserve water as much as possible in the days to come. The irrigation department may have assured that the available water will last till July 15, though a conservative approach would help. The met department’s monsoon forecast has indicated deficient rains in Maharashtra. Thus, it will be in everybody’s interest to prevent wastage of the precious resource. Water thefts, diversion of tankers for non-potable use, usage at construction sites and swimming pools need to be curbed. Citizens, too, need to be on their toes to ensure judicious usage. A solid push need to be given to rainwater harvesting in the city and on the outskirts to improve availability of water.
