Officials clarified that all the gates will not be removed completely at present. If the monsoon arrival gets delayed this year, water may still be required for agriculture and horticulture purposes.
Therefore, while maintaining adequate water storage, precautionary measures are also being taken to ensure that sudden heavy rainfall does not create flood-like situations.
According to sources, the WRD has constructed barrages on the Mhadei, Ragada, Velus and Valvanti rivers under the “Save Water, Recharge Water” initiative.
For the past 20 years, rainwater has been stored in these barrages and supplied to farmers’ fields through lift irrigation schemes.
Every year after the monsoon ends, gates are installed in the barrages to store water. This stored water is then supplied for agricultural and horticultural irrigation through lift irrigation projects. This year too, water was stored immediately after the monsoon by installing the barrage gates, and the stored water has been used for irrigation over the last four months.
According to WRD sources, the process of removing the gates from the barrages has now commenced. Instructions in this regard have already been issued to contractors concerned. Since intermittent rainfall has been recorded across the taluka over the past few days, the immediate need for irrigation water has reduced to some extent. However, as a precautionary measure, all the gates will not be removed simultaneously.
Although the monsoon is expected to arrive within the next few days, heavy pre-monsoon showers could increase the river flow suddenly. To prevent flood-like situations, the gates are being removed in a phased manner.
Officials stated that the stored water in the rivers should not be depleted completely, as it may create irrigation problems if the monsoon gets delayed. Therefore, only a portion of the gates is being removed while maintaining sufficient water reserves for future agricultural use.
At the same time, precautionary steps are being taken to ensure that sudden rainfall does not obstruct river flow and create flooding due to the barrages. Officials further said that if rainfall intensifies, priority will be given to removing all the barrage gates swiftly.
Meanwhile, many barrage gates in Sattari taluka have become rusted and damaged, leading to significant water leakage and wastage. Taking note of this issue, a proposal has been submitted to the government for the replacement of all the gates.
If the proposal receives approval, new gates will be installed in all barrages after the monsoon season. This is expected to prevent water wastage, improve water storage capacity, and positively benefit agricultural irrigation across the region.
