The Drought Series: Maharashtra’s drought explained

Maharashtra is in deep crisis. The elixir of life, Water, is missing from the state. Drought-hit Maharashtra is facing one of the biggest water crises in decades.

The drought in Maharashtra is amplifying as days are passing by. The water in reservoirs of the state are not enough to meet the demands of parched people of the state as 17 huge reservoirs of Maharashtra are left with just 2 billion cubic metres (bcm) of water against the requirement of 45 bcm.

As per the Central Water Commission (CWC), water levels in Maharashtra’s reservoirs were slightly over 30% of their full capacities in January, imagine what would be the situation now with no rainfall expected for 2 more months.

The CWC has stated that between January and now, water levels in all 91 big reservoirs in the country, including Maharashtra, almost halved from a cumulative 44% of capacity to 23%. The reservoirs now together hold about 36 bcm vis-a-vis their total capacity of about 158 bcm.

Moreover, only 3% water is left in dams in the Marathwada region.

Eight of the region’s 11 major dams are at dead storage level, meaning water from these dams cannot flow out and has to be lifted.

The situation is becoming tense as an 11-year-old girl died of heatstroke while collecting water from a village pump.

Here’s an overview: