Water stock in Maharashtra's key dams surges; Koyna gets 10 TMC in 48 hrs

Mumbai, Aug 19 (PTI) Copious rains in catchment areas over the last couple of days have significantly increased the water level in key dams across Maharashtra, forcing authorities to open floodgates and sending alerts to people living along the rivers downstream.

Koyna dam, an important reservoir and lifeline in terms of both power generation and irrigation in the state, witnessed a dramatic leap in its water stock - from 84.70 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) on Sunday morning to 93.45 TMC by Tuesday morning, while its full capacity is 100 TMC, data released by the water resources department said.

One TMC water is equivalent to 28.31 crore litres.

Rainfall of 192 mm in a single day in the dam's catchment area compelled the authorities to increase the discharge of water from a modest 9,993 cusecs on Monday to 51,200 cusecs on Tuesday.

The flow has set alarm bells ringing in towns along the Koyna and Krishna river confluence, such as Karad in Satara district, with the collectorate issuing warnings of possible flooding and river water intrusion in low-lying areas.

Authorities attribute the rapid increase to the relentless showers in western Maharashtra, a region that saw 113 mm of rainfall between Sunday and Monday alone.

Out of the 19 principal dams in the region, 15 have now begun releasing water to make space for more inflow expected in the coming days. By comparison, just five dams were discharging water as of August 17.

In Marathwada, the imposing Jayakwadi dam is almost filled to the brim with 94.83 per cent (72.70 TMC of a potential 76.65 TMC), though water continues to be safely retained for now, the data said.

The Purna Yeldari dam in Parbhani district is 93.83 per cent full, but authorities have begun controlled releases of 49,575 cusecs into the Purna river.

Vidarbha's Pench Totladoh dam stands at 68.34 per cent of its capacity, while the Gosikhurd reservoir, currently holding 12.56 TMC (48.07 per cent), is discharging a hefty 89,193 cusecs into the Wainganga river basin to alleviate pressure after intense rainfall.

As per the department's data, in North Maharashtra, Mula dam in Ahilyanagar district and Girana dam in Nashik district are almost filled to the brim at 18.10 TMC and 12.93 TMC, respectively, but have not yet started releasing water.

Contrastingly, the Hatnoor dam in Jalgaon district is actively discharging 63,173 cusecs of water into the Tapi river as its stock reached 6.39 TMC out of a 9 TMC capacity. PTI ND NP