Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: The Maharashtra Water Resources Regulatory Authority (MWRRA) has recently rejected two separate petitions filed in 2018 by the Marathwada Janata Parishad demanding rightful water allocation for Marathwada. This decision is one-sided against Marathwada, said petitioner Dr. Shankar Nagre.
For drought-prone Marathwada, four dams Bham, Bhavali, Mukane, and Vaki were constructed in Nashik district. However, water from the Bhavali dam has been diverted to Shahapur (Thane). Objecting to this, Dr. Nagre, on behalf of the Parishad, filed a petition before MWRRA in 2018. Subsequently, the state government, while preparing the water plan, decided that dams built for low-rainfall regions would not be diverted to high-rainfall regions. A separate government resolution to this effect was issued on 20 July 2019. This gave strong grounds to the Marathwada petition. Yet, after eight years, the authority has dismissed the plea.There is already a plan to provide water to Marathwada through the Vaitarna and Mukane dams. Hence, the ruling stated that opposition to diverting water to Shahapur is meaningless.
Another petition regarding the Krishna Basin was also filed by Dr. Nagre in 2018. The plea requested equal distribution of Krishna Basin water to all regions. In Pune district, around 70% of land is under irrigation, while in Solapur, Satara, Kolhapur, and Sangli, about 40–50% of land is irrigated. In contrast, in Dharashiv and Beed districts of the Krishna Basin, only 18% of land is irrigated. Hence, the petition demanded equitable water distribution across all districts. However, the authority dismissed this plea as well, reasoning that equal water allocation to all districts is not possible.
“The state government has adopted a policy in the water plan that dams built for low-rainfall regions cannot supply water to other regions. A government resolution was also issued in 2019. Despite this, MWRRA has upheld the government’s decision to divert Bhavali dam water, built for Marathwada, to Shahapur. Rejecting equal water distribution in the Krishna Basin is also unjust. We will appeal this in the High Court.”
– Dr. Shankar Nagre, Petitioner, President, Marathwada Jalsamruddhi Pratishthan