Water in Maha dams rises by 25 per cent between Jul 9-16

Heavy rains over the past few days has increased the water stock in Maharashtra's dams by almost 25 per cent from 643.64 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) on July 9 to 804.34 TMC on July 16, state government data has revealed.

This rise between July 9-16, of 160.7 TMC, constitutes about 10 per cent of the total storage capacity of the state's dams which is 1720.09 TMC, an official said.

A state Water Resources official said that divisions such as Amravati, Pune and Nagpur had received excess rainfall while regions like Konkan and Nashik had received less rainfall, till July 16, when compared to the same period last year.

Replying to a query on the Konkan belt traditionally receiving the highest amount of rainfall, the official said that the region saw less rains in June this year.

Lack of rains in June meant that the region was still short of the rainfall it had received in the same time last year, he informed.

By July 16 last year, the Konkan region had 74.22 per cent of its annual rainfall while this year it stood at only 67.27 per cent, he said.

"The cyclonic circulation over Maharashtra has brought good rains but the precipitation has increased recently (in the Konkan region)," the official said.

The official said Nashik region had only received 26.44 per cent of its yearly average by July 16 this year compared to 32.47 per cent in 2017.