Sangli city to face supply cuts as Krishna water level dips

KOLHAPUR: The dip in the water levels of Krishna river has forced the Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation authorities to initiate water cuts next week, a move that has come even before the full onset of summer.
For the next one week, the citizens of the corporation, which requires supply of nearly 90 million litres of water daily (MLD), will receive water at a low pressure and an appeal has been made to use the water judiciously, said civic chief Anil Pawar.
Sangli residents said that it is for the first time in many years that the water cuts have been introduced so early due to a dip in river water level. Civic officials said the city is currently facing a deficit of 60 MLD. The situation is unlikely to improve for the next six to seven days. It takes this much of time for the water from Koyna dam to reach Sangli city.
The reason for the dip in the Krishna river level is the increase in the lifting of water for irrigating the fields located upstream of the city. This year, the sugar cane harvesting has been completed very early and therefore, the demand of water for cultivation for the next season has grown multifold.
This is the reason for the continuous dip in water stock of Koyna dam, which feeds water to Krishna river. For instance, on Friday, the live water stock of the dam was around 61 TMC, compared to 67 TMC a week ago. In the last one month, the water stock has come down from 79 TMC to 61 TMC.
The dam authorities have carried out water discharge from the dam regularly to meet the demand. The dam has a total capacity to store 105 TMC.
Jyoti Devkar, executive engineer of Sangli circle of irrigation department, said the water discharge has been started from Thursday night to meet the demand of Sangli. "We have started removing the plates from the barrages located along the stretch of the river to ensure the water discharged from the dam reaches Sangli city rapidly. Currently, the total discharge from the dam is 3,600 cusec," she said.
Fish found dead in river
Thousands of fish, small and big, were found dead in Krishna river at Ankali Bridge connecting Kolhapur and Sangli districts. The reason behind the deaths is unclear. Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) officials visited the site, collected fish and water samples. Sangli's environmental activist Amol Jadhav said, "The fish death is most likely due to the release of toxic effluent. "