The Kurunur Dam water crisis has intensified in Solapur district, with only 24% of the reservoir’s storage remaining as of October 11, threatening water supply to Akkalkot town, Samarthnagar and seven to eight gram panchayats that depend on the dam.
The reservoir currently holds 197 million cubic feet of water, while the connected settlements require around 1.5 million cubic feet every day. With the supplementary supply from the Ekrukh Lift Irrigation Scheme now stopped, authorities have appealed for careful use of the remaining water.
The dam, which generally fills every year, did not reach full capacity this monsoon because rainfall remained below expectations towards the end of the season. The shortfall continued through September and October, leaving little scope for the reservoir to recover before the supplementary inflow was discontinued.
Water had earlier been released in stages from the Ekrukh scheme to help protect supplies for residents and livestock. That intervention helped sustain the storage level, but the continuing lack of rain has prevented the dam from receiving the additional replenishment expected at this time of year.
Data from the irrigation department cited in the report indicates that operating all three pumps of the Ekrukh scheme and releasing water at 70 to 90 cusecs for 24 hours could have increased the reservoir’s storage by at least 7 million cubic feet. In practice, the daily increase recorded in the dam was about 2.5 million cubic feet, equivalent to an estimated flow of roughly 25 to 30 cusecs.
The figures underline the gap between the planned pumping capacity and the actual increase in storage. With the scheme’s water supply now halted, the available 197 million cubic feet must support drinking-water needs and the requirements of livestock until the next significant replenishment. The immediate administrative focus is therefore on conserving the remaining stock and preventing disruption to the water-supply scheme and animal water access.
