The water train chugging into Latur to meet the city's drinking water supply is unlikely to recur in the next five years, at least said officials. Unprecedented heavy showers that lashed Marathwada over past few days have helped increase water levels in all resources, including Manjara dam, which is considered the lifeline for Latur.
Manjara dam, which has a storage capacity of nine thousand million cubic feet, was in dead storage since 2012 till a few weeks ago.With the dam filled up to 97% of its capacity , officials have started discharging water.Though the rain receded on Monday , water from catchment areas continued to flow into the dam, which is situated about 80 km from .
Latur has a daily requirement of 60 million litres and considering consecutive years of drought, the government had started supplying water to the city through a train from Miraj. The severe drought had brought industries to a grinding halt and severely affected trade and business in the city .
“Lower Terna, another major dam, is also heading towards getting full ... and the storage we presently have, is enough to last for about 5 years,“ said Mohammed Sarfaraz , a senior geologist at the Ground Water Survey and Development Agency .
He added that the groundwater table that had dropped by 3.5 metres has already made significant recovery and the level are constantly rising. They were in the process of assessing the groundwater table.
Latur district disaster management officer Saqueb Osmani said the problem of drinking water supply for Latur and nearby areas would be closed chapter now.“The Manjra dam and other barrages supplying water to Latur are filled to storage capacity ,“ he said. Number of NGOs had rushed to Latur to implement different schemes to deepen and widen the water resources that had run dry across the district.
Latur district collector Pandurang Pole said that following the drought, most farmers had already shifted to other crop. But due to good rains, some might think of opting for sugarcane.
Interestingly enough, the Latur civic body cannot immediately fetch water from its pumping station at Manjara dam.The 800 kv transformer installed by the civic body was stolen from Manjara dam vicinity recently.
Manjara dam, which has a storage capacity of nine thousand million cubic feet, was in dead storage since 2012 till a few weeks ago.With the dam filled up to 97% of its capacity , officials have started discharging water.Though the rain receded on Monday , water from catchment areas continued to flow into the dam, which is situated about 80 km from .
Latur has a daily requirement of 60 million litres and considering consecutive years of drought, the government had started supplying water to the city through a train from Miraj. The severe drought had brought industries to a grinding halt and severely affected trade and business in the city .
“Lower Terna, another major dam, is also heading towards getting full ... and the storage we presently have, is enough to last for about 5 years,“ said Mohammed Sarfaraz , a senior geologist at the Ground Water Survey and Development Agency .
He added that the groundwater table that had dropped by 3.5 metres has already made significant recovery and the level are constantly rising. They were in the process of assessing the groundwater table.
Latur district disaster management officer Saqueb Osmani said the problem of drinking water supply for Latur and nearby areas would be closed chapter now.“The Manjra dam and other barrages supplying water to Latur are filled to storage capacity ,“ he said. Number of NGOs had rushed to Latur to implement different schemes to deepen and widen the water resources that had run dry across the district.
Latur district collector Pandurang Pole said that following the drought, most farmers had already shifted to other crop. But due to good rains, some might think of opting for sugarcane.
Interestingly enough, the Latur civic body cannot immediately fetch water from its pumping station at Manjara dam.The 800 kv transformer installed by the civic body was stolen from Manjara dam vicinity recently.
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