Water Release from Khadakwasla Dam Triggers Flood Concerns in Pune

Khadakwasla, 24th August 2024: The rains, which had subsided for the past few days, have returned to the catchment areas of all four dams in the Khadakwasla Dam Chain Project. Due to the rainfall from last night through this morning, water has started to be released from the Khadakwasla Dam into the Mutha River basin. This has caused concern among Pune residents about potential flooding.

The four dams—Temghar, Varasgaon, Panshet, and Khadakwasla—that supply water to Pune are all full. Currently, these dams hold a total of 28.34 TMC, which is 97.18% of their capacity. Rainfall recorded was 48 mm in the Temghar dam area, 24 mm each in the Varasgaon and Panshet dam areas by Saturday morning, and 8 mm in the Khadakwasla dam area.

As a result, at 10 AM, water was released at a rate of 862 cusecs from the Varasgaon Dam and 849 cusecs from the Panshet Dam. With the incoming water into the Khadakwasla Dam, 2,140 cusecs of water were released from this dam into the Mutha River basin at 11 AM., and the discharge was increased to 4,150 cusecs by noon. Consequently, residents along the riverbank have been alerted.