Navi Mumbai: A good rainfall last week has pushed the level of Morbe Dam, which supplies water to the city, to 84 per cent. The catchment area of the dam received over 700 mm rainfall in the last week.
The total storage capacity of Morbe Dam is 190.890 million cubic meters (MCM). As of August 28, the storage was 160.237 MCM, which 83.94 per cent of its total capacity. “The maximum water level of the dam, when it overflows, is 88 meters. The present level is 85 meters till 5 pm of August 29,” said Vasant Padghar, deputy engineer (Morbe Dam). He added that there is a need for a couple of days of good rainfall in the catchment area to reach its capacity.
Last year, the dam had overflowed on August 4. However, this year, there was scanty rainfall at the beginning of the monsoon. Due to this, the dam level depleted to a record low. For the last three years, the dam has been overflowing. If this year too it overflows, it will be a record. “As one month of monsoon is left, there is a possibility that the dam will fill to its capacity, and citizens will have a chance to cheer,” said another official.
The dam is located in Khalapur in Raigad district. This year, the district has received good rainfall so far. In fact, the overall rainfall in Raigad district during August is around 170 per cent of the normal rainfall of the month. However, Khalapur taluka has not received as much rainfall compared to other parts of the district. As per the data available with the district administration, the taluka has received 2,519 mm rainfall till August 29, which is around 72 per cent of the total rainfall.
There is still a shortfall of around 4 meters, which the civic administration is expecting to fill in the days to come. “In order to overflow the dam, the catchment area requires around 3,250 mm rainfall during the monsoon season. This year, so far, the catchment area has already received 2,341 mm rainfall and it requires around 1,000 mm more rainfall,” said the official.
