Totladoh dam over 80% full with 2.5 months of rains ahead

Nagpur: Residents of Orange City need not bother about water supply till next rainy season. The main source of water, Totladoh dam, is over 80% full while its downstream reservoir Kamptee Khairi has about 85% storage. Overall, the storage of major dams in Nagpur division is 50% with over two-and-a-half months of rainy season still remaining.
Sources in Vidarbha Irrigation Development Corporation (VIDC) said that if catchment area of Totladoh receives even average rainfall, the gates of the dam will have to be opened in the coming weeks.
The situation is not uniform in the division. Dina dam in Gadchiroli and Kalisarar in Gondia district do not have any live storage. Khindsi dam in Nagpur district has only 18% storage.
The major dams of Amravati division have about 37% storage. Upper Wardha dam in Amravati district has the highest at 57.33% while Bembla and Pus dams in Yavatmal district do not have any live storage.
JG Gawali, superintending engineer of VIDC, said Totladoh had 70% storage in May-end. “The storage increased due to rainfall in catchment area of Totladoh as well as upstream Chaurai dam. When Chaurai got 65% filled, they released water in Pench river, which increased Totladoh’s storage. We are storing more than necessary because of last year’s experience. There was no rainfall till August end and we had to reduce release of water from Totladoh,” he added. Gawali further said VIDC’s target was to have 100% storage in Totladoh on October 15.
Last year, the city faced water cuts for some weeks as Totladoh and Kamptee Khairi had gone dry. Totladoh did not have live storage till August 11, 2019, and the city was facing a bleak future on the water front. However, it rained so much after that, VIDC had to open all 14 gates of the dam on September 10.
Following constant discharge of water from Totladoh reservoir, VIDC was forced to open 12 out of 16 gates of Kamptee Khairi dam too on September 13. The last time Totladoh gates were opened was in August 2013, when the upstream Chaurai dam was still incomplete. It had not rained well in 2018 and Totladoh’s live storage had been exhausted by May 2019.
INFOGX
Dam ——————- % Storage
Totladoh —————- 81.32
Kamptee Khairi ———— 84.91
Khindsi —————- 18.05
Gosikhurd ————— 25.58