Maha: Post-monsoon showers fill up reservoirs in parched Latur

Post-monsoon rains have come as a welcome relief for Latur in Maharashtra as reservoirs have got filled, reducing water scarcity in the perennially parched Marathwada district, officials said on Wednesday.

Two major barrages and Manjara dam, the key sources of drinking water for Latur city, now have enough stock to last till June 10 next year, a civic official told PTI.

"The city may now not need tankers for water supply this year," he said.

Latur had deficient monsoon rains this year and the government was planning to take up new projects to ease the situation on an urgent basis, another official said.

But, things have improved due to the post-monsoon showers and there is no need for such projects as of now, he added.

Rains in the last four days have filled up the Nagzari and Sai barrages to their maximum storage capacity, Latur Municipal Commissioner M D Singh said.

"These two barrages have a storage capacity of 3.48 million cubic metre each. We have forwarded a proposal to the district collector to keep this water reserved for drinking purposes," he said.

The water level in the Manjara dam has also gone up, he informed.

"As per the India Meteorological Department, more rainfall is likely in the region. At present, we have 14.41 million cubic metre water in the Manjara dam which is reserved for drinking purposes," he said.

Till now, water was being supplied to the city through the civic pipelines once in 15 days, he said.

"If the rain continues, the supply through pipelines can be improved. We have received 4.5 million cubic metre of water in the reservoirs per day in past 48 hours. We are hopeful of more rains," Singh said.

"We are now hopeful of managing water supply through pipelines in the city till next summer-end, and we may not need tankers this year," he added.