Mumbai: The water crisis in the drought-struck state is deepening. There has been a rise of over 25.7% in tankers supplying drinking water to rural
Maharashtra in just one week.
Currently, 768 tankers have been deployed, from 611 just a week ago. That is a rise of 157 tankers in just one week. Significantly, at this point of time in the year no tankers were used in the last five years.
Almost half the number have been deployed in the arid Marathwada region, which is using 374 tankers (48.7%). Western Maharashtra is utilizing 218 tankers, while North Maharashtra uses 176. No water tankers have been deployed in Konkan and Vidarbha.
Districts with the highest usage of tankers are Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (169) and Beed (166) in Marathwada, Ahilyanagar (161) in North Maharashtra and Kolhapur (123) in Western Maharashtra.
The tankers are supplying water to 3,082 villages and hamlets compared to 2,664 last week.
Dam water levels in the state are down to 72.1% from 90.6% at this time last year. In Marathwada, live water storage is 42.7% of capacity compared to 86.9% at this time last year. In Vidarbha too, dam water levels have plummeted. In Amravati division’s dams, live storage is 60.9% of capacity compared to 88.6% during this period last year.
In Nagpur, it is 68.6% of capacity compared to 89.8% last year.
In Western Maharashtra, the dam water level is 82.9% compared to 93.7% last year. Even in the Konkan, which usually receives plentiful rain, live water is 88.8% of capacity compared to 93% last year.
Given the poor rainfall in the state with the El Nino effect, the state has already declared a 10% water cut in rural and urban local bodies by Oct 16. Industries have been asked to recycle 30% of their total water consumption. And 10% of the fresh water bodies of each major reservoir are being kept aside as an emergency reserve.
