Maharashtra Water Crisis: As the water scarcity has worsened in Maharashtra, section 144 was on Monday imposed in Sangli and Satara districts along the canals to stop water theft and also to prevent transporting cattle fodder outside the areas.
The development comes as the dams and other reservoirs were not filled up to their maximum capacity due to less rainfall during last monsoon. The water crisis is so much now that most lakes and ponds in the districts have dried up and the ground water level has also gone down.
The main source of water for these two districts now are the dams located upstream of the Krishna River and its major tributaries, such as the Warna River. While Koyna dam has only 37% of its total capacity of 105TMC water left, the Chandoli has just 33% of its 34TMC capacity remaining.
Sangli, Satara are the two main districts which are affected by the water crisis. It is shocking to understand that nearly 1,060 hamlets in these two districts have no drinking water left and the district administrations have deployed nearly 250 water tankers each to ensure drinking water is made available.
Giving details to TOI, Sangli district collector Raja Dayanidhi stated that the district is facing a moderate drought due to less water availability. He added that the administration has decided to impose prohibitory orders until May ends to ensure water is made available for the district.
Notably, the prohibitory orders have been imposed for the canals that depend on the Tembu lift irrigation scheme, the Arphal scheme, the Krishna lift scheme, and the Mhaisal lift irrigation scheme.
It should be noted that the lift irrigation schemes provide water to 80% of the Sangli district residents for the domestic use and the water from the dams has been released into the canals.
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