Nashik
The continuous absence of rains for the last week has resulted in declining water levels in the district dams including Gangapur that supply water to the city and district.
This will be the first time since the start of monsoon that dam levels are lower than those of last year. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has however predicted a revival of the monsoon starting next week, which can increase the water levels.
Earlier, due to incessant rainfall in the catchment area of the district dams, the water storage in the dams had reached gradually to 67 per cent. The water storage in Gangapur Dam, which supplies water to Nashik city, also touched 91% in the last week of August.
From June onwards, the district recorded actual rainfall of 399.1 mm of the tehsil normal rainfall of 750.2 mm. Thus the district recorded 53.2% of rainfall compared to normal.
In August, the district recorded 27.3% rainfall compared to normal. Talukas of Trimbakeshwar, Peth, Igatpuri, Surgana and Dindori recorded the highest rainfall in the district.
The discharge of water continued from seven reservoirs of Punegaon, Darna, Bhavli, Valdevi, Chankapur, Haranbari, Kelzar and Nandur Madhyameshwar barrage.
Last year on August 31, the stock in the dams was 96 per cent, but this year the water level is 67 per cent, a significant deficit of 29 per cent compared to the previous year.
Last year on September 4, the stock in the dams was 84 per cent, but this year the water level is 59 per cent, a significant deficit of 25 per cent compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. At present, The dams together have 38583 million cubic feet or 59 per cent of the remaining water reserves.
There has been a gradual increase in the water storage over the last few weeks and for the past few days, the rain has taken a break in the western part of the district including the Gangapur dam catchment.
Therefore, the current water storage in Gangapur Dam has dropped to 83 per cent from 91 per cent the previous week.
