Water released to Jayakwadi dam after court order

Mumbai: The state on Thursday released water to Jayakwadi dam in Aurangabad.

A day after the Maharashtra government declared drought in 151 talukas in 26 of the total 36 districts in the state, the Supreme Court (SC) took a decision to release dam waters to the drought-hit regions in the state. The SC order means that dams in Nashik and Ahmednagar districts will release water.

 Two dams from Nashik and one from Ahmed-nagar contributed towa-rds releasing water, and tight security was strategically deployed as the water was released. A senior official from the Nashik irrigation department said that over the next two days, there will be release of a total 2.64 TMC water to the Jayakwadi dam, including around 2.04 TMC from Darna and Mukane dams and another 0.60 TMC from the Gangapur dam.

SC took the decision Wednesday after an appeal filed by Padmashri Vitthalrao Patil Sugar Mills against releasing water from the Nilwande dam in Ahmednagar was rejected.

As per the government, 112 talukas are facing severe drought while 39 talukas are facing moderate drought. The 26 districts comprise eight districts each in the Vid-arbha and the Marath-wada regions are facing drou-ght-like conditions.  

“The ground verification was done and based on indicators of rainfall deficit, reservoir storage, groundwater index, and soil moisture, the drought was declared,” a revenue department official said.