Ghorawadi Dam in Pune district’s Purandar taluka is facing a worsening water-shortage risk, with local residents alleging that 40 to 50 electric pumps are drawing water from the reservoir and its surrounding channels without adequate control. The reported extraction has raised concerns about drinking-water supplies to Saswad and several villages as the water level continues to fall.
The dam has a total storage capacity of 67.50 million cubic feet (MCFT). Irrigation department branch engineer Avinash Jagtap said the water stored in the reservoir was declining rapidly. Rising temperatures and an expected increase in demand during the hotter period have added pressure on the available supply, according to the report.
The Ghorawadi reservoir supports the Dive Regional Water Supply Scheme, which supplies drinking water to Saswad city and the villages of Supe-Ghorawadi, Shivtare Vasti, Chavan Vasti, Pimple, Poman Nagar, Datemala and Bhiwadi. The supply system therefore serves both an urban centre and a cluster of rural settlements dependent on the same water source.
Information provided by irrigation department messenger S. H. Korapade indicates that around 55 hectares of agricultural land also depend on water from the dam. This creates competing demands on a reservoir whose storage is already under pressure. The department has said that water use will need to be managed according to priority, with drinking water receiving precedence.
Local residents have alleged that large-scale extraction is currently taking place through 40 to 50 electric pumps in the dam area. The report does not establish how many of these pumps are authorised or quantify the volume of water being removed. The allegation has nevertheless prompted demands for a physical inspection and action where unauthorised extraction is found.
Vishwas Katkar, president of the Ghorawadi Reservoir Water Supply Committee, said that continued uncontrolled pumping could place additional stress on the remaining storage and create problems for the planned water supply to the villages. The concern comes as the area faces the combined pressure of lower rainfall, increasing heat and a possible El Niño effect, according to the report.
Santosh Jadhav, former deputy sarpanch of Supe, has called for a joint team comprising the revenue, police and water resources departments to prevent unauthorised extraction from the dam and its main canals. Residents have also urged the administration to prepare a formal water-distribution plan and inspect pumping activity around the reservoir.
The immediate administrative task is to determine whether the alleged pumping is taking place, identify any unauthorised extraction and protect the supply required for drinking water. The report records demands for coordinated enforcement and stricter storage planning, but it does not state whether a joint inspection team has yet been appointed or whether any action has been taken against pump operators.
