Maharashtra govt scraps open canal system, to build pipeline network from dams

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Tuesday decided to build a network of pipelines to fetch water from dams, scrapping the existing open canal system.
Water resources minister Girish Mahajan claimed that the pipeline system will not only save money but also stop water leakages and thefts.

“We will not build canals henceforth. Instead, we will lay down underground pipelines to give water to farms as well as cities for drinking purpose,” Mahajan said. He claimed that need for land acquisition for irrigation projects will not arise after the system comes into existence. It will help cut down an irrigation project’s cost by 30 to 35 per cent.

“At present 40 to 45 per cent water is either stolen or gets leaked. The closed pipelines will also save 20 to 25 per cent water from being evaporated,” Mahajan said. He said that system is expected to be completed by 2019.

The designing of the pipelines has been given to Maharashtra Engineering Research Institute. Mahajan cited an example of water supply to Solapur city to underpin the need of closed pipeline instead of open canal.

“Solapur needs two TMC drinking water every year but the government has to send 20 TMC from Ujani dam to fulfill the need as 18 TMC water is either lost or stolen in the 200 kms journey from dam to the city,” he said.

Baby drowns in bucket of water
Mumbai: In a tragic incident, a one-year-old baby girl, whose family left their home in drought-hit Latur and migrated to Thane to tide over the crisis, drowned in a bucket filled with water here, police said.

The Waghmare family of four members migrated to the city about a couple of months back to escape the drought in their Ahmedpur village of Latur district and were living in a shanty here, an officer at Vartak Nagar police station in Thane said. “Their one-year-old daughter died on Sunday after drowning in a bucket of water while she was away from her mother’s sight,” he said.