Thane has already received 66% of last year’s rainfall, dams are ‘overflowing’

Maharashtra’s Thane district has received 11,446.54mm of rainfall this monsoon which is 66 per cent of the rainfall it received during the entire monsoon season last year, a senior district official said on Sunday. Thane has received 11,446.54mm rainfall this season so far as against 8,613.50mm in the same period last year, district information officer Aniruddha Ashtaputre said on Friday.

The district had received 17,150.10mm of rainfall in the entire monsoon season last year, the official said. Thane had already received over 66 per cent of the entire rainfall it got during last year's monsoon, he said. He said that water levels of dams in the district were rising and some of their gates would need to be opened soon. The gate of Modak Sagar Dam was opened at around 3pm on Sunday and its storage level was reaching the overflow mark, Ashtaputre said.

The storage level of Bhatsa Dam stood at 125.65 million cubic metres (mcum), or 58.77 per cent of its storage capacity, and its gates would be opened when the water capacity reached 134 mcum or 78 per cent of the storage capacity, he informed.

“The gates will be opened when it reaches 78 per cent. Villages in the vicinity will be informed in advance and tehsildars will receive official communication before the water is released,” he said.

Modak Sagar, which supplies water to Mumbai, overflows

Modak Sagar, one of the six reservoirs which supply water to Mumbai, started overflowing on Sunday afternoon following incessant rains in the catchment area, a civic official said.

Tulsi, another of these lakes, had become full some days ago. Modak Sagar on the Vaitarna river in Thane district, which has a total storage capacity of 15.8 TMC, overflowed on Sunday, said an official of the BMC.

The water levels of dams in the district were rising and some of their gates would need to be opened soon. The gate of Modak Sagar Dam was opened at around 3pm on Sunday and its storage level was reaching the overflow mark

- ANIRUDDHA ASHTAPUTRE, District Infiormation Officer