Khadakwasla increases water discharge

Officials said the discharge may be revised further depending on rainfall in the catchment and inflow into the reservoir. They appealed to residents to stay away from the Mutha riverbed and advised people living in low-lying areas to shift livestock and belongings to safer locations as a precaution.

The Khadakwasla irrigation division on Friday increased the discharge from Khadakwasla dam into the Mutha river to 9,372 cusecs, marking the second change in discharge within 24 hours as fluctuating inflows from the catchment continued to influence reservoir operations.

Pune, India - July 22, 2017:People visit Khadakwasla Dam after 14 thousand cusec water was released from the dam in Pune, India, on Saturday, July 22, 2017. (Photo by Pratham Gokhale/ Hindustan Times) (Pratham Gokhale/HT PHOTO)

In the morning, the discharge had been reduced from 9,405 cusecs to 4,708 cusecs after the reservoir level witnessed a rapid decline. However, following fresh rainfall and increased inflows into the dam during the day, authorities again raised the release from 4,708 cusecs to 9,372 cusecs at 5 pm.

Officials said the discharge may be revised further depending on rainfall in the catchment and inflow into the reservoir. They appealed to residents to stay away from the Mutha riverbed and advised people living in low-lying areas to shift livestock and belongings to safer locations as a precaution.

As of 6 pm on Friday, Khadakwasla dam was 100% full, storing 1.97 TMC of water. Across the Khadakwasla dam complex, the combined storage in the four reservoirs stood at 23.42 TMC (80.35%), compared to 23.60 TMC (80.98%) on the corresponding day last year. The four reservoirs received a combined inflow of 824 million cubic feet (mcft) during the day, while 1.82 TMC of water had been released from Khadakwasla dam through the spillway till Friday evening.