Delay in releasing 5.6 TMC of water in Jayakwadi Project irks Marathwada

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The executive director of Godavari Marathwada Irrigation Development Corporation (GMIDC) decided upon releasing 5.6 TMC of water from upstreams in Ahmednagar and Nashik districts for Marathwada, on October 30. However, considering the present law and order situation in the state, the government has instructed to postpone the release. An air of disappointment has prevailed as even after 5 days, the people from the region are kept away from getting their rightful share of water since the last five days.

It may be noted that as per the norms of equal distribution of water, if the storage of water in Jayakwadi Project is less than 65 per cent (on October 15) then the authorities concerned had to take the decision of releasing water from upstreams in the Godavari basin for Marathwada.

The Aurangabad Bench of Bombay High Court also gave an order in this regard. Later on, the executive director (GMIDC), Santosh Tirmanwar, took the decision of releasing 8.6 TMC of water. The release of water from the dams which are upstreams was also scheduled in the meeting. The chief engineers of Nashik and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar were also alerted about implementing the order. However there evoked a mild opposition from Ahmednagar and Nashik districts. Meanwhile, the state government, two days ago, instructed the executive director to postpone the release of water for a tentative period, said the sources. Hence the Department of Water Resources (DoWR) was not prompted to release the water.

The executive director (GMIDC) Santosh Tirmanwar said, “The decision of releasing 8.6 TMC water in Godavari basin has been taken. The implementation of the decision, however, has been halted due to the ongoing agitations all over the state. We are expecting to receive fresh orders in this regard in a couple of days and then we will act accordingly.”