With the arrival of the monsoon still a few weeks away , the cumulative storage of water in the major, medium and minor irrigation projects and barrages in drought-hit Marathwada is at a record low of 1%. Of the 11 major irrigation projects in the region, nine show zero live storage and the remaining hold just 60.51 million cubic metres (MCUM) live storage, as against the five-year average of 804 MCUM.
The Upper Painganga irrigation project, located in Nanded and Yeotmal districts, holds barely 3% storage, while the Lower Dudhana in Parbhani has 12% stock.
The Jayakwadi dam, which supplies water to Auragabad and other areas of Marathwada, had a negative 8.95% storage by Friday , which is a record of sorts.
According to irrigation department data, at this time last year eleven major irrigation projects from Marathwada showed 9% storage capacity . While most of the major irrigation projects are almost dry , the water stock in medium and minor projects has been receding at an equally rapid pace.
All medium projects from from Latur, Osmanabad, Parbhani and Hingoli districts have zero live storage along with many dams from the other districts.
The region has 75 medium projects, which by Friday , held just 3% stock (25.39 MCUM), as against 8% (72.83 MCUM) last year by May 20. The 729 minor irrigation projects with a combined storage capacity of 1595.70 MCUM are left with just 2% stock.
The 11 barrages on the Godavari River are almost at zero per cent stock, while 18 barrages on the Manjra River hold a combined 1% of water.
Any delay in the arrival of the monsoon is expected make the already stressed water situation further complicated. said.
No comments:
Post a Comment