Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The water storage of the Jayakwadi project in Paithan has reached 83 per cent with ongoing heavy rains in Ahilyanagar and Nashik districts.
But, there has been minimal water storage in medium and small dams of Marathwada during the last two months of the monsoon season. This has increased concern in the region.
If the rains continue in the upper reaches of Jayakwadi, it will be 100 per cent full in the next eight to ten days. On the other hand, the condition of other water bodies in the region is pathetic. There are 75 medium-type dams in eight districts of the region.
As per the information received from the Water Resources Department, the average water storage in these dams is only 35 pc. Of this, 16 reservoirs are in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar with 19 pc water, followed by 8 projects in Jalna with 18 pc water, 17 medium projects in Beed (54 pc storage), 8 dams in Latur (17 pc), 17 dams in Dharashiv (43 pc) and 9 dams in Nanded (42 pc).
There are two medium projects in Parbhani, which have 29 pc water storage. The current condition of medium projects is better than last year. Last year, there was 17 pc storage on this day. In 2023, there was only 24 pc storage. Like medium projects, the water storage in small projects in the region is also not satisfactory.
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Scene of 751 small dams more grim
The water situation of 751 small dams in the region is grim. Of these, only 14 pc of the projects in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, 17 pc in Jalna and only two pc in Hingoli have water storage. The district-wise number of dams and year-wise storage (in pc) is as follows;
District Name----No dams--2025--24--23
Chh Sambhajinagar--98----14----8-------8
Jalna--------------------57----17---1--------2
Beed--------------------126---33--11--------7
Latur-------------------135--21----18-------18
Dharashiv--------------206--40---24-------6
Nanded------------------80--37----31------77
Parbhani----------------22--18----15------10
Hingoli------------------27--02---21----59
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Meagre storage in Majalgaon & Manjara dams
Among the major projects in the region, the Manjara dam in Beed district and the Manjara project in Latur have very low water storage. Majalgaon has 15 pc water storage, while Manjara has only 29 pc storage.