Pune: Downpour in catchments of most dams in district

PUNE: The catchment areas of the four dams near the city and many reservoirs in the district recorded heavy rainfall from Tuesday evening till Wednesday because of cyclone Nisarga.
Khadakwasla, Panshet and Varasgaon received over 40mm rainfall each, while Temghar recorded 25mm showers till Wednesday evening. The Pavana dam, supplying water to Pimpri Chinchwad, recorded 35mm rainfall.
There are over 25 major dams in the Bhima basin. Almost all of them recorded showers in the past two days. Vadivale dam received the highest rain of 50mm, followed by 45mm at Bhama Askhed and 38mm at Andra.
Officials in the state irrigation department stated that overcast conditions prevailed in the catchments of all the dams, accompanied by strong winds on Tuesday and Wednesday. The on-duty staff at every dam was put on alert about possible heavy showers because of the cyclone.
An official said, “Water levels generally do not go up during the pre-monsoon rainfall. But showers during the last two days were significantly heavier than pre-monsoon rain. The chances of some rise in water stock cannot be ruled out.”
The collective stock of water in the four dams supplying water to the Pune municipal limits was 6.85 TMC on Wednesday morning, as much as 3.35 TMC more than the last year’s stock of 3.5 TMC on June 3. The irrigation department has initiated water release into theMutha canal for summer crops from the Khadakwasla dam after reserving water to meet the requirement of the city till mid-July.