Pune: Key reservoirs around Pune are now just a whisker away from hitting their collective capacity, staging a dramatic turnaround from the grim situation barely a month ago. With the four dams in the Khadakwasla circle only 2 TMC short of reaching their combined capacity of 29.15 TMC, fears of any El Niño-linked water stress have, for now, receded significantly, while the monsoon still has Aug, Sept and part of Oct left to deliver.The four reservoirs that had together held less than 4 TMC of stock a month ago recorded 27.3 TMC of live storage on Wednesday, following widespread rainfall across the region over the past four weeks. Irrigation department officials said the dams had been receiving steady inflows for the last three days and could reach full capacity if rain continued in the catchment areas.According to irrigation department data, the four dams in the Khadakwasla circle added 0.5 TMC of water during the 24 hours ending Wednesday evening. Khadakwasla dam continued to remain at brim level, while Panshet and Varasgaon reservoirs crossed the 90%-mark. Temghar dam, meanwhile, reached 86% live storage.The irrigation department maintained a discharge of 4,700 cusec from Khadakwasla dam into the Mutha river throughout Wednesday. The release followed water discharge from Panshet dam at a rate of 1,700 cusec. “Panshet dam’s storage has reached 99%. The dam is receiving substantial inflows from the ghat regions, where several locations continue to witness heavy rainfall. Varasgaon dam is also nearing full capacity. We are closely monitoring inflows into Khadakwasla and will decide on further release into the Mutha river accordingly,” an irrigation department official said.On Temghar dam, officials said additional rainfall in its catchment area would be needed for the reservoir to fill completely. “Temghar’s storage had dropped to zero at the onset of the monsoon. The reservoir typically reaches full capacity after about 2,500mm of rainfall. Since June 1, the catchment has received more than 2,200mm of rainfall. Water released from Temghar eventually flows into Khadakwasla. The reservoir has a maximum storage capacity of 3.1 TMC,” another official said.Meanwhile, the irrigation department continued water release from 15 dams outside the Khadakwasla circle. The highest discharge rates were recorded from Ujani dam at 60,000 cusec, followed by Ghod (10,000 cusec) and Mulshi (7,200 cusec). Of the state’s 25 major dams in the region, 20 had storage levels above 90% as of Wednesday evening.
