Jayakwadi needs automated water release system: Dam officials

Jayakwadi dam requires an automated water release system to ensure equal distribution of water and its canals need proper maintenance to prevent excessive water loss, an official said here on Thursday.

The dam, located in Maharashtra's drought-prone Marathwada region, has a storage capacity of 102.7 TMC (thousand million cubic feet), 27 gates, with two canals that are 340 km long.

"The right and left canals of the dam are in poor condition, causing water loss of around 30 to 40 per cent. Repairs on these canals can save a lot of water, and can help meet the needs of every farmer," executive engineer Rajendra Kale said.

Godavari Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation (GMIDC) is conducting a feasibility study for the automated water distribution at Jayakwadi.

"People often disturb the irrigation schedule by manually operating the gates in trenches and weirs. Hence, a automated system will help distribute water in timely and regular intervals without human intervention. We need major funds for this," he added.

At present, the dam authority has a budget of over Rs 3 crore for maintenance, Kale said, adding that the collection of (irrigation and non-irrigation) taxes was not more than 15 crore a year until 2018-19 when it touched Rs 28. 34 crore.

The GMIDC must take into consideration that fact this is the highest since the dam was commissioned in 1976, and allot more funds, the official added.