Drought-hit Maha mulls more water cuts

The government has already announced 20 per cent cut in water supply to Mumbai, Pune and industrial township of Pimpri-Chinchwad. If the situation does not improve, other cities would also be brought within the ambit of the water cut, state Water Resource Minister Ajit Pawar said in the state Assembly today.

The major dams in the state like Ujani, Jaikwadi and Koyna are only 20 per cent filled of their storage capacity, whereas at the same time last year, these were filled up to 75 per cent of their capacity, he added.

Out of 354 talukas in the state, 208 have received below average rainfall, of which 18 have not received any rainfall at all. The state government has announced drinking water as the highest priority. Accordingly, officials of the water resource ministry have been told not to release water for any other purpose other than domestic use, Pawar said.

To combat the drought-like situation, the state government has asked district collectors to start working under the employment guarantee scheme (EGS) immediately, Minister for EGS Harshwardhan Patil told the Assembly.