NMC seeks more water from dams, decision today

Nashik: The civic body has set its sights on increasing the amount of water reserved to meet the drinking water requirements of the city till next monsoon.
The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) wants 4,300 million cubic feet (mcft) of water to be reserved to meet the drinking water requirements of the city between October 2016 to July 2017. This is an increase of 800 mcft over the reservation made last year.
Civic officials will make the demand of 4,300 mcft water during the annual meeting of the district committee planning water use till next monsoon. The meeting will be held on Tuesday.
"We will seek water reservation of 4,300 mcft from the dams for drinking water requirements during the meeting. Of 4,300 mcft, water reservation of 4,200 mcft has been proposed in Gangapur group of dams (including Kashyapi and Gautami) and the remaining 100 mcft in Darna dam," an NMC official told TOI.
He added, "Last year, the NMC has reserved a total of 3,500 mcft water, including 3,100 mcft in Gangapur dam and 400 mcft in Darna dam. We used 3,303 mcft of water last year, including 3,116 mcft from Gangapur group of dams and 193 mcft in Darna dam."
The Gangapur group of dams and Darna dam are the major sources of drinking water for the city. The water is reserved in the dams for the municipal corporation for the period from October 15 to July 31 every year. There is no reservation from August to October.
The total capacity of the Gangapur group of dams is 9,350 mcft. The water level of the Gangapur group of dams was recorded at 8,865 mcft (94.82%) on Monday as against 5,930 mcft (63.43%) noted on October 24 last year.
The total capacity of the Darna dam is 7,149 mcft. On Monday, the water level of the Darna dam was recorded at 7,149 mcft, which was 100% of its total capacity. In comparison, the dam had 6,306 mcft (88%) water on October 24 last year.
Nashik district has received a good rainfall with 82.66% of its annual rains. The dams are near full and much of the water has been released downstream as the water cannot be stored up to the 100% mark before October.
With dams across Nashik district having much water in store and water level in Gangapur Complex being maintained, the district has released as much as 62.973 thousand million cubic feet water to Jayakwadi, which is a major dam in dry Marathwada.