Dam levels up, water cut may be rolled back

After days of uncertainty and threats of increased water cuts, Puneites finally have something to cheer about. Officials from water supply department of the Pune Municipal Corporation on Saturday said they were planning to roll back the 20 per cent water cut that was in place for the last three months, once the water in dams crosses the 20 TMC mark.

The four dams that supply water to the city have 19.7 TMC water at present, and it is expected that their storage will be 20 TMC in three to four days. Officials said by next week, they will be in a position to withdraw the water cut completely.

Over the past few days, rainfall in catchment areas has considerably increased water levels in the four dams. With the Khadakwasla dam being filled to its capacity a week ago, the irrigation department also started releasing water into the Mutha right bank canal. This led to corporators from various political parties demanding that the water cut be rolled back.

V G Kulkarni, superintending engineer, PMC said, "The decision to roll back the water cut will be taken soon. The final call will be taken in the meeting next week."

On Saturday, Temghar dam had 2.01 TMC water, which is 54 per cent of its capacity. Panshet and Varasgaon dams had 7.52 TMC (71 per cent) and 8.12 TMC (64 per cent) of their capacity respectively.

Corporators have also blamed negligence on part of irrigation department for the reduced storage capacities of the dams. On Friday, some corporators wrote to PMC authorities alleging that the capacity of these dams has gone down due to litter and increasing silt deposition.

Shivaji Bolbhat, executive engineer, Khadakwasla irrigation division said as of now, his office does not have any desilting plans.

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