High Alert: All 27 gates of Jayakwadi Dam opened to discharge 94,320 cusecs of water into Godavari River

Aurangabad, Sept 26:
To maintain the capacity of water storage and prevent danger to Jayakwadi Dam the Department of Water Resources (DoWR) officials opened all its 27 gates, including nine emergency gates, today afternoon discharge 94320 cusecs of water in the Godavari River. It may be noted that the officials had released 47 TMC of water from the dam in the last 23 days.

The acting superintending engineer Rajendra Kale confirmed that the release of water from the dam started by lifting nine emergency gates to a height of half a foot in the morning and lifting another 18 gates to a height by four feet in the afternoon. The office could increase the discharge of water, he hinted.

Meanwhile, there was a flood-like situation in the Godavari River due to the discharge of water in excess quantity. The administration has also alerted the people staying on the banks of the river between Paithan and Nanded.

As reported earlier, 89 mm rainfall was recorded by officials on Friday night. Heavy downpour was there in the jurisdiction of eight revenue circles, out of 10, in Paithan tehsil. Besides, there was a cloud bursting in the water-shed area of the dam. The flow of water received was 84,129 cusecs on Friday night. As a result, the dam got full up to 100 per cent.

The increase in the inflow of water in the dam prompted the officials to swing into action and discharge of water started from September 25 at 8 pm, said the dam engineer Budhbhushan Dabhade.

Earlier, the water storage was 95.49 per cent in the dam on September 23. However, to heavy downpour in the vicinity as per the predictions of the Weather Bureau the storage capacity touched 100 per cent. In three days, the storage capacity increased by 4.50 per cent.

Gate numbers one to nine are emergency gates. This year, the officials opened them two times. The officials opened these gates on September 18 and 26.

The dam officials mentioned a tough time while releasing water on Friday night. They said due to disruption in power supply between 10 pm (on Friday), and 4 am (on Saturday), they struggled in the dark to operate the power generators. They underlined the danger in the dark due to snakes and other harmful insects which come flowing in the water and hide near the wall of the dam. They are pushed to risk their lives and perform their duties without power supply. The officials had submitted a letter in this regard to the district administration, it is learnt.