No Water Cuts In Pune, Decision To Be Assessed in October ; Informs Chandrakant Patil 

By: Pune Pulse

September 2, 2023

Pune: Guardian Minister Chandrakant Patil has informed that there will be no impact on the water supply of Pune city as there is ample stock of water in the Khadakwasla project.

The ongoing irrigation cycle will also proceed as scheduled. As mentioned during a meeting of the Canal Advisory Committee, the plan will be reassessed in October based on the rainfall situation.

Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, State Revenue Minister, Dilip Walse Patil, Cooperation Minister, Rahul Kul, MLAs, Ashok Pawar, Harshvardhan Patil former minister, Vikram Kumar, Pune Municipal Commissioner, Dr Rajesh Deshmukh, District Collector Ramesh Chavan, Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad, Atul Kapole, Executive Director of Krishna Valley Development Corporation, Hanumant Gunale, Chief Engineer, Sunanda Jagtap, Superintending Engineer and others were present.

During the meeting, Patil acknowledged that there has been less rainfall this year. However, the Khadakwasla dam has good storage of water. Further planning will be determined in October after monitoring rainfall in the coming month. Pawana and Chaskaman have 100% water storage, and Bhama Askhed also has satisfactory water storage. Thus, there are no issues with the water planning for these projects at the moment, as stated by the water resources department.

The Nira system has 91% water storage, which is 4 TMC less than the previous year. For now, there is satisfactory water stock. However, due to low rainfall in the beneficiary areas, planning should be implemented to ensure equitable availability of water for drinking and irrigation purposes according to Patil.

Efforts should be made to ensure that fields in the canal tail area receive water at the appropriate pressure. This may require providing power only at specific times to control water extraction in the canal area. To curb illegal water usage, manpower should be reassigned, and personnel from other locations should be used for irrigation management. The revenue minister suggested hiring temporary manpower from external sources as proposed by Vikhe Patil.

Once the Neera Left Canal’s irrigation is completed, the Shetphal Lake is planned to be filled to 50% capacity. The Neera right and left canals are currently undergoing rotation and will continue as planned. MLAs Santosh Awtade, Shahajibapu Patil, and others were present at the Neera Right Canal Advisory Committee meeting.

Madhupriya Dhanwate