Water from Ujani Dam may provide relief to Marathwada

In a bid to tackle water scarcity in Beed, Latur and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra's drought-prone Marathwada region, the administration has proposed to source water from Ujani Dam in Solapur, an official said.

Divisional commissioner's office has sent a proposal to the executive director of Krishna Khore Vikas Mahamandal seeking 111.98 million cubic metres (MCM) of water from Ujani Dam to prevent water scarcity in these three districts.

"Latur has faced severe water crisis in the past. The sources are not enough, as the region doesn't receive adequate rainfall. To meet the water needs and decrease the expenditure during crisis period, the administration has sent the proposal," Latur district collector G Shrikant said.

The proposal, which was sent in November 2019, clearly states that the resources available in these three districts are not enough and Rs 297.73 crore has been spent to meet the minimum requirement of water from 2014 to 2019.

At least Rs 146.34 crore was spent on water in Beed, Rs 73.20 crore in Latur and Rs 78.19 crore in Osmanabad, the proposal states.

According to the proposal, the administration plans to build a pipeline to transport the water from Ujani to Manjara Dam, which is located 180 km away.

In keeping with the population growth till 2050, the divisional commissioner's office has demanded 83.22 mcm water for Latur, 3.59 mcm for Osmanabad and 25.17 mcm for Beed from Ujani Dam.