El Nino impact: Maha stops dam water for agricultural irrigation, reserve stocks for drinking till August 31

Mumbai: In a critical move to tackle the growing threat of a water crisis, Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil has directed officials to immediately halt the release of dam water for agricultural irrigation.

Citing low reservoir levels and a bleak monsoon forecast driven by the El Niño effect, the state government has ordered that all available water stocks be strictly reserved for drinking purposes until August 31. The minister gave directives late Sunday night after analysing current seasonal rainfall trends and water storage across dams in the Krishna and Godavari River basins.

The minister also ordered a rigorous crackdown on unauthorised and illegal water extraction across the state.

Currently, the total usable water stock in Maharashtra’s reservoirs stands at just 357.5 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic feet), which translates to a mere 25 per cent of the total capacity. This is significantly lower than the water levels recorded during the same period last year, said the government release.

“Due to highly deficient rainfall so far this season, the expected inflows into our reservoirs have not occurred,” Minister Vikhe Patil stated. “Given the absolute uncertainty of the monsoon, our immediate and highest priority must be securing drinking water for our citizens,” he added.

The water scarcity situation is particularly critical in the Pune division, where live storage has plummeted sharply compared to last year. To protect the region’s urban population, the Water Resources Department has been ordered to reserve an uninterrupted quota of drinking water to sustain approximately 8.5 million residents across the Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad metropolitan areas through August 31, said the release.

The minister outlined a dismal water storage blueprint across other major divisions and requested immediate, population-based quota evaluations. In the Nashik division, it is currently sitting at 26 per cent usable water capacity, and the Marathwada division is holding 28 per cent usable water capacity. Both areas, alongside Ahilyanagar (formerly Ahmednagar), have registered severely deficient rainfall.

The state plans to conduct an immediate, comprehensive review of all dams and major water bodies under the Marathwada and Krishna Valley corporations to lock in precise drinking water quotas calculated against local population requirements.

To combat the overarching uncertainty of the monsoon, the state government will implement decentralised planning. “A separate, independent action plan will be formulated for every single district,” Minister Vikhe Patil announced.

According to the minister, these contingency measures will focus heavily on securing urban and rural drinking water supplies, implementing active drought-mitigation measures, protecting and monitoring natural water sources and launching public awareness campaigns to champion the judicious use of water.

Recognising that water scarcity often leads to a rise in unauthorised water siphoning, the state has authorised a severe enforcement campaign. Joint law enforcement squads — comprising officials from the Revenue Department, Police Department, and the Water Resources Department — will carry out regular patrols and surprise raids along canals, dams, rivers, and lakes, said the minister. The task forces have been given explicit powers to immediately confiscate illegal motor pumps, pipelines, and siphoning equipment.

Furthermore, the state has made it mandatory for these joint teams to submit a detailed weekly action report regarding enforcement actions and crackdowns directly to the ministry. “Every drop must be accounted for. Local administrations, municipal corporations, and water supply bodies must work in total coordination to manage our reserves until substantial fresh inflows finally arrive in our reservoirs,” noted Minister Vikhe Patil.

IANS