The Monsoons in Maharashtra

After almost two months of the monsoon, Maharashtra has reported a total water stock at 61% of the capacity , mainly because of the delayed rains. Information shared by state authorities show that the Konkan and Pune divisions have comparatively better water stock in the dams compared to the rest of Maharashtra. The situation in Marathwada remains critical, with the region's current water stock at merely 19%. The region is known for frequent drought-like situations and severe water scarcity .Maharashtra generally receives its first monsoon showers on June 7 and within the next few weeks, rains cover the entire state. This year, the monsoons arrived in Maharashtra only in the latter half of June and early showers were not intense, said officials in the state water resources department.
Divisions like Pune and Konkan are divided by the Sahyadri mountain ranges, starting from the Dang district in Gujarat till Kolhapur in Maharashtra. The ranges further go on till Kerala to form the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats are one of the primary reasons for heavy downpour in the Konkan and Pune divisions. The Konkan division has received good showers this year, taking the current storage to 89% of the total capacity of 58.50 TMC. Dams in the Konkan region are not used for agricultural purposes, but they are mostly used for drinking water and hydroelectric power generation.
The Pune division has 368 small, medium and large dams, with total storage capacity of 362.5 TMC. The current water stock in these dams is 276.84 TMC, which is 76% of the total storage capacity . Dams like Koyna and Ujani are the largest ones.Koyna dam has a capacity of 105 TMC, while Ujani's storage capacity is 115 TMC. The other major dams are Varasgaon, Panshet and Warna.
Officials in the state agriculture commissionerate said, “The situation is worrisome for parts of Pune division, in many parts of Nashik division and the entire Marathwada region, because the cultivated area is currently facing an acute water shortage. Aurangabad, Nanded, Parbhani, Nashik, Ahmednagar and Solapur are key districts in these regions with a lot of agricultural land of high yield. The rainfall in the region is still inadequate and dams too do not have enough water that can be help irrigation.“
The Bhimashankar range in Pune and Nashik and another range in Ahmednagar district have not received good rains. The biggest river of the state Godavari does not have sufficient water for Ahmednagar and several districts in Marathwada.
The state government has already declared 123 tehsils in the state as water scarcity-hit areas and offered some relief in revenue and electricity bills. But farmers need rains and water now for the survival of crops grown in the field.