PUNE: Although people might have got slight relief from the heat because of the rainfall last week, the water storage level in the district continues to remain a concern as it has reached 17.5 per cent.
Although the coastal areas of Maharashtra have received heavy rainfall in the last few days, Pune received 5.4 mm rainfall between Friday and Saturday morning last week. In the first week of June, Pune recieved 5 mm of rainfall on June 2.
On May 21, water storage in dams was about 25 per cent which further reduced to 17.5 percent on June 10. The water storage on the same day last year was reported at 10.61 per cent by the Water Resources Department.
Guardian Minister Girish Bapat and the Irrigation Department had earlier raised concerns over water usage of the city and had called for a rational use of the resources untill the arrival of a good monsoon.
The India Meteorological Department had earlier said that the Southwest Monsoon would reach Maharashtra by June 8 and 9. While the coastal areas of Maharashtra were lashed with good rainfall, Pune is yet to receive the same.
As per the Irrigation Department, the PMC is sanctioned 11.5 TMC ft water annually, while they are consuming 15 to 16 TMC ft water on an annual basis. The Water Resource Department has sanctioned 3 TMC ft water to the Pune Metropolitan Region (PMR), which is currently facing issues of water shortage.
With growing requirements of water in Pune district, the government officials have started planning water management. The Pune Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (PMRDA) has also set up a water committee which includes the district collector and chiefs of Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad civic bodies to plan water management in Pune region.
