Representative image of water in a dam in Marathawada region.
Credit: iStock Photo
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Manjara dam in Maharashtra’s Beed district, one of the three reservoirs in the Marathwada region where water stock had plunged to 'zero per cent', has started receiving water after rains in its catchment, an official said on Thursday.
About 170 km away, the Vishnupuri dam in Nanded district is about 83 per cent full and its gates would be opened anytime depending on the inflow of water, said another official.
Besides Manjara, which supplies water to Latur city, Sina Kolegaon in Dharashiv district and Majalgaon in Beed have recorded a “zero per cent” stock, according to officials.
“The water stock in Manjara dam reached 0.09 per cent after 0.61 million cubic metres (MCM) of water was added in the morning. Though big spells of rains are still awaited, water inflow into the dam has begun,” said an official.
On the same day (July 25) last year, the dam had a water stock of 22.99 per cent, said officials.
However, the water supply routine for Latur city, which gets water once every four days, won’t change for now, said a senior civic official. It all depends on the rainfall in Manjara dam’s catchment, located in Beed district, an official said.
Meanwhile, the stock in Vishnupuri dam in Nanded district has reached 83 per cent and its gates would be opened anytime depending on water inflow, said officials. The reservoir has been built on the Godavari river.
Irrigation officials have appealed to the district administration to alert people living downstream about the rising water stock in the dam and the impending opening of gates. The dam has received 57.74 MCM of water since June 1, said officials.
The state’s Marathwada region comprises eight districts – Jalna, Aurangabad, Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded, Latur, Osmanabad and Beed.