Mumbai : The water table in reservoirs is depleting sharply and the Thane district administration fears additional water cuts will come into play if temperature soars in the coming days.
Modak Sagar is the worst affected reservoir in the district which is left with only 16 per cent of its full water stock. Barvi, the major reservoir, is left with only about 29 per cent of the stock, officials pointed out. But, the most alarming aspect is that the stock in this reservoir has come down by almost four per cent in the past week alone.
At present, only about 29.89 per cent of the water is left in Barvi dam which caters to Kalyan, Dombivali, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar and Badlapur. The reservoir had over 33 per cent of stock on April 4, officials said.
Currently, the Thane city is facing 40 per cent water cut, while several other cities in the district are facing 55 to 65 per cent cut, the authorities said.
The MIDC has forced a 40 per cent water cut, while the Shahad Temghar Water Authority and the Thane Municipal Corporation have cut down the supply by 30 per cent.
Sources from the Thane Irrigation Department said that around 24 million cubic meters (MCM) of water is lost on a yearly basis due to evaporation at Bhatsa dam that has a storage capacity of 692 MCM.
[EPSB]
Thane: NCP leader Jitendra Awhad today blamed Shiv Sena-led civic corporation for present water crisis in the city.
[/EPSB]
Officials from irrigation department said that after the water lost due to evaporation is taken into consideration, the actual water cuts would turn out to be around 33 per cent.
Subhash Waghmare, superintendent engineer of the irrigation department said, “The decision regarding water cut is taken after carefully calculating the losses due to evaporation.”
“After much planning, we have cut down the water supply for Thane district from sources like Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation, Thane Municipal Corporation and MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) and STEM to 1240 million litres per day (MLD) from earlier 1800 MLD. In addition we have started supplying water only five days a week. This would continue until July 15,” he added.
