Over 1 meter water depletion in 1,318 Maha observation wells

Over 1,300 observation wells in drought-hit Maharashtra have reported water depletion by more than one meter, Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation Babanrao Lonikar Thursday told the Legislative Council.

The depletion of more than one meter water level is important because the reduction is compared with the average level of the same wells for the last five years, he said.

As many as 1,318 observation wells have reported water depletion by more than one meter, Lonikar said it in a written reply to a question by Sharad Ranpise (Congress).

There are 681 observation wells where water level depletion is between 1-2 meters, the minister said.

The depletion level also indicated that 5,640 villages spread across 175 tehsils would face water scarcity, he said.

"The state government has initiated repair works of water supply schemes. As a part of scarcity action plan of the government, a total of 80,131 temporary and major repair works have been undertaken by my department," Lonikar said.

"We have also decided to use 5 per cent of amount from scarcity funds to repay the dues of water supply schemes. It has helped the state to reactivate drinking water schemes in rural areas," he said.