Vandri dam water kept for drinking leaves Palghar paddy farmers worried

Palghar: Paddy farmers in Palghar taluka are struggling after the rains stopped in the final stretch of the kharif season, just as the crop reached the grain-filling stage. Their hopes of saving it with irrigation from the Vandri dam have faded after a government circular directed that dam storage be planned for drinking water in view of the drought-like conditions.

The Vandri dam, in the limits of Ganje village, can store 35 million cubic metres. Its 9-km left canal serves farms in six villages around Vehloli, Khaire and Sativali, and its 12-km right canal irrigates ten villages including Ganje, Dhekale and Varai. Of the water in the dam, 13 MLD is reserved: 11 MLD for Reliance's petrochemical project at Tokrale and 2 MLD for the Nandade regional water supply scheme.

Pipelines for both schemes are reported to be unfinished, so the reserved water is not yet being drawn. Farmers want the rest of the dam's water released for paddy. They point out that 104 repair jobs costing ₹3.18 crore were carried out to stop canal leakage and that work on the dam's jackwell is complete, and ask what an irrigation project is for if it cannot supply water in a crisis.

Sachin Patil, executive engineer of the irrigation department, said both canals had been badly damaged in heavy rains and a repair proposal had been sent to senior officials. With the canals in disrepair and the government's directive to plan for drinking water, he said, the department is examining whether water overflowing from the spillway can be released for irrigation.

Source: Pudhari