Pune Rains: Intense Downpours Lead to Increased Dam Discharge; 88% Water Storage Recorded

Heavy rainfall last week led to widespread flooding in the city, prompting the evacuation of thousands. Following a brief three-day respite, water discharge from the Khadakwasla Dam resumed on Monday night due to rising catchment levels, heightening concerns among residents along the river. Rainfall has resumed in Pune since last night. Currently, the four dams in the Khadakwasla Dam project hold a combined storage of 25.78 TMC, which is 88 percent of capacity.

Last week, the Khadakwasla Dam released 35,000 cusecs of water on Wednesday and Thursday due to heavy rains, causing significant flooding in societies along the Mutha River. This led to the temporary evacuation of approximately 4,500 residents. On Sunday, the discharge was reduced as the rainfall diminished, but it was increased to 25,036 cusecs on Monday with the resurgence of rain. By Tuesday, the discharge was again reduced as the rainfall subsided overnight.

Following yesterday's heavy rains, the discharge from Khadakwasla Dam resumed this morning. At 7 a.m., the discharge was increased by 9,416 cusecs to reach 11,407 cusecs. By 9 a.m., it was further raised to 13,981 cusecs. By 11 a.m., the discharge was increased to 16,247 cusecs. All four dams in the Khadakwasla project have begun filling up, and discharge operations are now being carried out every 2-3 hours.

The Khadakwasla project currently holds 25.28 TMC of water, which is 88.44 percent of its capacity. On the same date last year, the reservoir had a storage of 22.20 TMC, or 76.61 percent of capacity. This represents an increase of approximately 3 TMC compared to last year.