The dreaded is happening. From July 1, Pune will face a 30 per cent cut in its regular water supply as water levels in the reservoirs have dropped to unprecedented lows.

The present storage levels in Panshet and Khadakwasla dams of 0.65 TMC would last only around 15 days for the city, irrigation department officials said. “With these water cuts, we will be able to stretch the availability of water for an additional few days,” said Avinash Surve, superintending engineer (Pune irrigation circle). Last Sunday, the irrigation department had started the 20 per cent water cut. According to the records of the irrigation department this is the first time in 40 years that there have been almost no rains in catchment areas in June. Last year, June saw the catchment areas receiving up to 335 mm of rainfall, but so far only 74 mm of rainfall has been received because of which dams have not received fresh water. At present Panshet has 0.28 TMC, while Khadakwasla has 0.48 TMC. The irrigation department is also mulling ways to keep water levels sufficiently high so that it could last till July 30 in case of a similar situation next year. “If we save water by 5 per cent the entire year, then we will have sufficient water supply to last till July 30,” said Surve.

Except Pimpri-Chinchwad, which has the benefit of healthy water storage in the Pawana dam, most other towns around Pune are also staring at water shortage.