E-Paper
Jayakwadi dam records 85% water level; authorities hopeful for 100% this year
On July 27, the Jayakwadi dam had recorded only 5% water level which increased to 25% during the first week of August, 55% by mid-August, and 85% on September 1.
With the Jayakwadi dam in the Paithan taluka of Aurangabad district recording 85% water level on September 1 and an above normal rainfall forecast for the month ahead, authorities are hopeful that the dam will reach full capacity and help cater to the water demand of the Marathwada region for the next two years at least.
The Jayakwadi dam is a multipurpose project with water mainly used for irrigation in the drought-prone Marathwada region apart from drinking and other purposes in the towns, villages, municipalities and industries of the Aurangabad, Beed and Jalna districts. On July 27, the Jayakwadi dam had recorded only 5% water level which increased to 25% during the first week of August, 55% by mid-August, and 85% on September 1.
Santosh Tirmanwar, Godavari Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation, said, “Good rainfall activity in both Ahmednagar and Nashik districts and also in the catchment areas of Aurangabad district has brought significant inflow into the Jayakwadi dam. Looking at the breakup, 10% of the overall inflow came to the dam from the catchment area while 90% came from dams in the Ahmednagar and Nashik districts located upstream of the Jayakwadi dam. The Godavari, Pravara and Mula are the three major rivers that contributed significantly to the increase in the water level in the Jayakwadi dam. As live storage reached 85%, water was released towards Majalgaon dam in Beed district, water level in which is still at dead storage. Currently, water is being released into the Paithan Right Bank Canal (PRBC) at 500 cusecs which is likely to increase to 900 cusecs.’’
“With the current water level, drinking water supply will be the priority after which water will be provided for irrigation and industrial purposes. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in its latest forecast said that above normal rainfall is expected in Maharashtra this month, and we are hopeful that Jayakwadi dam will reach 100% capacity. If this happens, it will be sufficient to cater to the water demand of the Marathwada region for the next two years at least as we plan to utilise the water in such a manner,” Tirmanwar said.
Meanwhile, the Koyna dam in Satara has recorded 99% water level and the Ujani dam in Solapur has recorded 100% water level on September 1. With above normal rainfall in June, July and August, dams in the Pune division have recorded good water level. As per irrigation department data, the Khadakwasla dam cluster has recorded 28.75 TMC of water storage which is 98.63% of its total capacity. Last year on the same day, the water level was recorded as 27.60 TMC which was 94.68% of the total water capacity. So far, at least 27.6 TMC water has been released from the Khadakwasla dam into the Mutha river this monsoon season. The water levels in the Bhama Askhed and Pawana dams, which are prominent sources of drinking water for east Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, have been recorded as 100% and 87.89%, respectively.
