This refers to your report “Only 3% water left in drought-hit Marathwada region and Water crisis: sec 144 imposed around Kukada canal in Maharashtra” (April 20). As per the reports, in Marathwada, eight of the region’s 11 major dams are at dead storage level, which means water from the reservoirs cannot flow out but has to be lifted and dams across the state have only 19 per cent water left compared to 32 per cent at this time last year. In Maharashtra, successive years of low rainfall have resulted in falling groundwater levels and early drying of natural streams. Water woes will not go away but rather worsen as the dry season has barely begun and the shortages are already critical. Dams are being used as political pawns in the game of water crisis. With the situation turning grave, long-term solutions had to be thought of. Planners must now enforce rainwater harvesting rules especially for every high-rise building in the State. Groundwater supplies and water levels in dams will continue to go down; conflicts in water usage will continue and perhaps worsen. The main task is to reduce the wastage of water, which we see almost on a daily basis but choose to ignore.
Vinod C. Dixit
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
