Latur receives water supply once a week as storage level in Manjara dam plummets

Latur city in Marathwada region of Maharashtra is getting water supply only once a week as the storage level in Manjara dam plummeted to 20 per cent of its capacity an official said on TuesdayLatur used to get water supply twice a week until December 2023 in view of scanty rainfall in the region newswire PTI reportedManjara dam which is the prime source of water for Latur currently has 20 per cent live storage a municipal corporation official saidIn a bid to maintain the water stock till June the administration has curtailed the water supply for Latur city the official saidLive storage refers to the volume available in a reservoir for holding stormwater as per the requirements of the design standardsUntil last month Latur used to get water for around 150 minutes twice a weekApart from restricting the water supply the timing is also reduced to 90 minutes now said executive engineer Vijay ChavanThe monthly quantity of water lifted from the dam is also reduced to one million cubic meters he addedAlso read Maharashtra Latur boy kills man in sleep over illicit affair with his motherIn April 2016 parched Latur was supplied water by a special train from western Maharashtra due to drought conditionsThe average groundwater level in Maharashtras Marathwada region has fallen by 101 metres The average depth of groundwater was 403 metres post monsoon in the past five years while it was measured at 504 metres after the rains in 2023 an official saidThe official said 61 out of 76 talukas of Marathwada have faced rain deficit between June and September 2023 including 19 talukas with a deficit of 30 to 50 per cent newswire PTI reportedAs per a report from the ground water survey department the average groundwater level in Jalna has gone down from 399 metres to 668 metres which means a drop of 269 metresThe report is made on the basis of survey of 875 wells across eight Marathwada districts the official saidThe groundwater level has gone down by 173 metres in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar formerly Aurangabad and Dharashiv formerly Osmanabad districts In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar the depth is 688 metres against the earlier 515 metres In Dharashiv it has gone down from 385 metres to 558 metres the official said quoting the reportIn Nanded the groundwater level has gone up by 112 metres the report saysDistricts and the falling groundwater level Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar 173 metres Jalna 269 metres Parbhani 040 metres Hingoli 086 metres Latur 120 metres Dharashiv 173 metres Beed 138 metres With inputs from PTI