Eight out of 11 major dams in Maharashtra reached maximum storage capacity

At least eight out of 11 major dams in Maharashtra's Marathwada region had reached their maximum water storage capacity.

Maximum storage capacity has been reached in Jayakwadi, Yeldari, Siddheshwar, Majalgaon, Penganga, Manar, Vishnupuri and Sina Kolegaon projects. At the same time, the capacity is 75.05 per cent in Dudhna, 85.71 per cent in Manjara and 98.46 per cent in Nimna Terna, an official told PTI.

"Apart from these, 75 medium projects in the region, which comprises eight districts, are 91.27 per cent full. The smaller projects have 75.78 per cent water at the moment," the official added.

Marathwada has already received 840 millimetres of rain this monsoon, or 123.62 per cent of the region's annual average rainfall of 679 millimetres.

As per a revenue department report, Nanded got 1118.6 mm, followed by Hingoli (992.4 mm), Jalna (843.8 mm), Latur (802.9 mm), Aurangabad (728.2 mm), Osmanabad (723.1 mm), Beed (712.2 mm) and Parbhani (700.4 mm).

On October 7, India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for Mumbai and the surrounding districts of Thane, Palghar and the Konkan region for the next two days.

The IMD has forecast thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, light to moderate rains, and gusty winds (30 to 40 kmph), very likely at isolated places for Friday and Saturday.

According to the IMD's Global Forecast System model, there will be a significant rainfall reduction over Maharashtra regions by October 14-15. 

In a long-range forecast of rainfall during the post-monsoon season, the weather department said that average to above normal rainfall is likely over most parts of India, except some regions of Northwest India and some parts of Northeast India where below-average rain is expected.