In the 24 hours ending Thursday morning, 15 of the 26 major dams in the Bhima basin recorded zero rainfall. The rest recorded single digit rainfall.
Of the four dams that supply water to the city, Khadakwasla recorded no rain on Thursday. Panshet and Varasgaon received 2 mm of rain each, while Temghar received 9 mm of rain till Thursday morning. Bhama Askhed, which supplies water to the eastern parts of the city, received 1 mm of rain.
An official of the Irrigation Department said that the cloud cover remained cloudy in the catchment areas, but the rain activity has reduced. Due to less rainfall, there was less increase in the water level in the reservoirs.
Data from the Irrigation Department showed that 0.1 TMC of water was added in 24 hours to the four dams supplying water to Pune due to the fall in rains. The collective water stock on Thursday reached 8.28 TMC, which was 4 TMC less than last year’s 12.23 TMC. The stock in Pavana was 2.6 TMC (30%) against last year’s 3.1 TMC (37%).
Irrigation Department official said, “Rainfall in the catchment areas has been low in the last 10 days. No dam has reported more than 1,000 mm of rain since June. Mulshi was on top with maximum rainfall of 788 mm, followed by followed by Temghar (745 mm) and Vadiwale (612 mm).”
Another official said the department is closely monitoring the water level. “The water storage in most of the dams has been reserved to meet the drinking water requirements as the water level has still not reached the ‘comfortable level’. We expect rains in the catchment areas in the last week of July,” the official said. Looking forward to his return.”