Conduct sediment survey to remove silt from Panshet, Varasgaon dams to increase capacity: Vikhe Patil

Pune: State water resources minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil told irrigation officials on Saturday to conduct a sediment survey to assess the amount of silt in Panshet and Varasgaon dams. He stated that removing silt from the dams would help increase the storage capacity.

He also instructed the officials to prepare a plan to address leakages from Varasgaon.

Panshet and Varasgaon, along with Khadakwasla and Temghar, are the city's primary water sources.

Patil visited the Varasgaon and Panshet dam sites on Saturday. He was accompanied by irrigation department officials and Daund MLA Rahul Kul.

"Removing silt from the dams would help increase their storage capacity. A detailed survey should be conducted. Based on its findings, the irrigation department should prepare a plan to remove the silt," he said.

The city and rural areas of Pune district have been demanding more water due to increased demand. The four dams in the Khadakwasla circle have the capacity to store 29.15 TMC of water, of which around 21 TMC goes to the city. The remaining water flows to rural areas.

"The work of removing silt from some portions of Panshet dam has been initiated with the support of a social organisation. We plan to remove two lakh cubic metres of silt," an official from the irrigation department said.

The water resources minister also directed the officials to check if the existing capacity of hydro-power generation units located at both Varasgaon and Panshet dams could be increased. He also requested a review of the status of acquired land for the Panshet and Varasgaon projects and a report on the utilisation of additional land acquired for these projects.

The live water storage of both dams is now below 40%. On Saturday, Varasgaon had 38% water stock, while Panshet's storage was 30%.

Pune: State water resources minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil told irrigation officials on Saturday to conduct a sediment survey to assess the amount of silt in Panshet and Varasgaon dams. He stated that removing silt from the dams would help increase the storage capacity.

He also instructed the officials to prepare a plan to address leakages from Varasgaon.

Panshet and Varasgaon, along with Khadakwasla and Temghar, are the city's primary water sources.

Patil visited the Varasgaon and Panshet dam sites on Saturday. He was accompanied by irrigation department officials and Daund MLA Rahul Kul.

"Removing silt from the dams would help increase their storage capacity. A detailed survey should be conducted. Based on its findings, the irrigation department should prepare a plan to remove the silt," he said.

The city and rural areas of Pune district have been demanding more water due to increased demand. The four dams in the Khadakwasla circle have the capacity to store 29.15 TMC of water, of which around 21 TMC goes to the city. The remaining water flows to rural areas.

"The work of removing silt from some portions of Panshet dam has been initiated with the support of a social organisation. We plan to remove two lakh cubic metres of silt," an official from the irrigation department said.

The water resources minister also directed the officials to check if the existing capacity of hydro-power generation units located at both Varasgaon and Panshet dams could be increased. He also requested a review of the status of acquired land for the Panshet and Varasgaon projects and a report on the utilisation of additional land acquired for these projects.

The live water storage of both dams is now below 40%. On Saturday, Varasgaon had 38% water stock, while Panshet's storage was 30%.