Rise in water allocation from irrigation projects for drinking, industrial use

NAGPUR: The water from irrigation reservoirs in the district is being looted. Primarily meant for irrigation purposes, the water from these reservoirs is increasingly being allocated for drinking and industrial purposes. Taking cognizance, the Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) has suggested to the state government to fix upper limit for allocation of water for industrial purpose.
Member of MWRRA Chitkala Zutshi told TOI that upper limit for industrial usage was necessary to ensure agriculture development. “Government has powers to decide allocation of water from reservoirs. I hope it fixes upper limit for industrial usage. Already a policy is in place to recover compensation from industries if irrigation water is diverted from reservoirs. The authority concerned should spend the collected amount to improve agriculture production,” she said.
The state government’s district water reservation committee had finalized water allocation for drinking and industrial purposes from irrigation reservoirs located in the district a couple of days ago. The data has revealed some shocking information.
The Pench Irrigation Project, including Totladoh and Navegaon Khairi reservoirs, is the biggest in the district with installed storage capacity at 1,225 million metre cube (MMC). The water allocation approved for drinking and industrial usage is 367.27 MMC, which is 29.98% of total storage capacity.
The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC), which has failed to prevent pollution of its water resources including three rivers and 11 lakes, is getting major allocation of 255.71 MMC water from Pench. As many as 13 industries are getting water from the project, of which the major share is of Maharashtra State Power Generation Company Limited (Mahagenco) for its Koradi and Khaparkheda thermal power stations.
The allocation from Wadgaon irrigation reservoir situated near Bela village in Umrer tehsil is even more shocking. Of total storage capacity of 136 MMC, water allocation for drinking and industrial usage is 83.75 MMC, which is 61.58% of total storage capacity. Major allocation is for industrial purpose including Purti sugar plant and Ideal’s thermal power station (the two are located adjacent to the reservoir), MIDC Butibori, Mihan Project, Reliance’s thermal power station etc.
Similar is the situation of Vena irrigation reservoir situated near Nagpur. Out of the total storage capacity of 21.64 MMC, 56.97% or 12.33 MMC is approved for allocation. The allocation from other reservoirs ranges between 4-23% of total storage capacity.
According to the WRD’s data for Maharashtra in 2012, the overall water allocation from irrigation purpose for drinking purpose was 19% followed by 9% for industrial usage.
But the remaining water in irrigation reservoirs is not completely utilized for agriculture. WRD official told TOI that reservoirs do not fill up to the storage capacity. “The water is lost due to evaporation. Besides dead water storage is not supplied for irrigation purposes. WRD does not have any exact data on quantum of water released for irrigation,” he said.
Considering the situation in the city and nearby municipal council areas, it is seen that civic bodies do not care for their own water sources like rivers and lakes. Many of the seasonal rivers and lakes, which were utilized for drinking water purposes in the past, have been contaminated or shrunk to a great extent due to negligence. Also, waste water is not being treated and reused for domestic purposes excluding drinking. Now, the civic bodies are totally dependant on irrigation reservoirs to meet their water demand.