Dams run dry as drought worsens in Maharashtra

The drought in 21,000 villages across Maharashtra is getting worse as dams dry up and more people are forced to depend on tankers for drinking water. According to the state water resource department, dams in Marathwada, one of the worst-hit regions, have just 4.92% water left. Across the state, only 17.04% water is left in dams. Last year, around the same time, the state’s dams had 29.55% water, while Marathwada had 25.54% water.

Of nine major reservoirs in the state, eight have no water stock (these dams only have dead water stock, which is water that cannot be used). One of the eight dams is Jayakwadi, the state’s biggest water reservoir. The number of villages getting water through tankers has gone up to 4,054 from 3,699 villages in just 12 days.

On Wednesday, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis took stock of the drought situation in two districts, Aurangabad and Jalna, and asked officials to come up with drought mitigation measures within 48 hours. “The officers concerned will take note of complaints and resolve the issue at the earliest. They will submit a report to me directly,” Fadnavis said.

Between October and November 2018, the state government declared drought in more than half the villages in 151 tehsils and 318 revenue circles, making them eligible for special relief packages and revenue benefits.

The government’s statistics showed apart from Marathwada, 12 water reservoirs in different regions –Amravati (Khadakpurna and Pentakli dams), Nagpur (Gosikhurd and Dina dams), Nashik (Bham, Tisgaon, Bhavali and Punegaon dams), Pune (Ghod, Pimpalgaon, JogeTemghar and Bhima dams) – have also gone dry, and have created acute water shortage in the adjoining areas.

To deal with the situation, the state has deployed 5,174 water tankers to provide drinking water to the affected areas. “Of these, 2,756 tankers a day provide drinking water to eight districts of Marathwada,” said a senior official from the water supply and sanitation department, requesting anonymity. “As sources of water are dry up, the number of water tankers we deploy is going to rise in the coming days.”

Fadnavis also shared a WhatsApp number (8879734045) and asked people to send their complaints related to water tankers, cattle camps, employment guarantee schemes, compensation, crop insurance etc. He asked officials to take the decision for deploying water tankers to provide drinking water based on the population in 2018, and not the 2011 census.

Across the state, 1,054 tankers have been deployed in Aurangabad, followed by Beed and Ahmednagar with 830 and 771 tankers respectively.

The number of villages getting water through tankers has gone up to 4,054 from 3,699 villages in the past 12 days, the statistics shows.

Meanwhile, the Centre has approved ₹4,717 crore for drought relief measures, of which, they have released ₹4,248.59 crore in two installments.

First Published: May 09, 2019 01:02 IST