After two years of deficient rainfall that saw drought devastate large parts of the State, the government on Monday announced the end of a monsoon that brought 97.3 per cent of expected rainfall.
The icing on the cake for the Devendra Fadnavis government was the robust 116.6 per cent rainfall that Marathwada, the region worst-affected by drought, received. Vidharbha, also drought-hit, saw the Nagpur region receive 87.5 per cent rainfall — the lowest figures for Maharashtra this year. In 2015, the State had received only 60 per cent rainfall.
Suhas Divse, director, State Disaster Management Department, said, “Today [Monday] marks the official end of this year’s monsoon. It has been a satisfactory year in terms of amount of rain we have received.” He added that Marathwada received the most rain. “The amount of rain the region received till August was not satisfactory. Since then, the monsoon really helped the region come out of drought. Marathwada will have sufficient water stored for at least two years from now.”
According to data from the State Water Resources Department, the total usable water in all dams in Marathawada has reached 75.53 per cent. Two months ago, stored usable water levels had plunged to nearly zero, and some districts including Latur had to be provided water by train.
Besides Marathwada, Konkan too has received excellent rainfall with an average of 115.7 per cent. The Nasik region received 92.8 per cent, Pune 94 per cent and Amaravati in Vidarbha received 97.7 per cent.
Mumbai, too, received good rainfall. The Colaba weather station recorded 2,574.4 mm rainfall between June 6 and October 14. Last year, this figure stood at 1,676.3 mm. the Santacruz weather station in suburban Mumbai recorded 2,973.2 mm rainfall in the same period, as against 1,853.8 mm in 2015.
Aurangabad-based water activist Pradeep Purandare, however, sounded a note of caution saying planning the use of this water will play a major role now. “Water [usage] planning is where we lack, and that may lead to major problems for Marathwada’s water security in the future. Use of water from medium and small irrigation projects must be managed well, canals should be restored to avoid leakage, and crop patterns must also be improved,” he said. Mr. Purandare added that planting excess sugar cane will result in unnecessary usage of water, which in turn will affect water security.
