Dehrang dam water level rises, Panvel to tide over water crisis

PANVEL: Dehrang dam, that supplies water to Panvel region, saw water level rise to 25m.

Thanks to the incessant rainfall in the past one week. The rise in water level has helped Panvel Municipal Council supply 5 mld water from the dam to Panvel.

Dehrang dam’s water storage capacity is 3.57 mcm. Rainfall in June and July so far has been reported to be 2983 mm.

There are 11,000 water consumers in the city who need 26mld water daily. The dam had completely exhausted its water storage in May this year. It also had a problem of around 3 m silt having been accumulated in it.

The city, with a population of around 1.25 lakh, has been facing acute shortage of water. Potable water was supplied to the households on alternate days.

This had forced PMC which owns the dam to look for other alternatives and also resulted in Panvel getting water supply only on alternate days. The residents had been getting polluted water and at very low pressure.

A PMC official said, “To counter the problem, we have decided to construct four additional water tanks in the city. These will be constructed at Hari Om Society, Market yard, HOC colony and Sai Mandir.”

Panvel has six water tanks and its filtration plant is located near ST depot.

In a massive clean up, 3m of silt was removed from the dam before monsoon, making space for more water.

The desilting work of Dehrang dam that had been pending for several years was finally taken up in May with support from the people of the region, including officials, contractors and elected representatives.

Panvel Municipal Council (PMC) is the only council in the state to build its own dam that is located on the foothills of Matheran.

BACHCHAN KUMAR Dehrang dam’s storage capacity is 3.57 mcm.