If haven’t felt the pinch of doing without water on day 1 (Wednesday) of the cut in supply, it’s time to brace yourselves and be prepared for a lot more than just a pinch – to be precise, 4 months of scarcity due to severe water crisis in Nagpur. This is what all of us in Nagpur have to be prepared for in the immediate future given that all the major, medium, and minor reservoirs in the district have run out of live stock of water.

To punch out a few scary numbers – Totladoh reservoir on river Pench has just 56MM3 water and Navegaon Khairy reservoir has 33 MM3 stock water that is just about enough to quench the thirst of the city for only a month. The only way to stretch the water stock available if the dry spell doesn’t end would be to continue alternate day water supply for a period of four months.

To add to the problem Water Works Department of NMC has pumps that can draw water from the level of 318 metres whereas the water level in Totladoh reservoir has dipped to 314 metres. To help mitigate the problem to some extent, guardian minister Chandrashekar Bawankule has directed NMC to carry out technical modifications so that they are able to pump water even if the level dips to 311 meters.

The guardian minister also advised the collector to send a letter to the Madhya Pradesh state government, with an urgent request to release 10-15 MMC water from the Chaurai dam on the Pench river which is has 94 million metre cube (MMC) water in stock. He has further directed the NMC to catch and take action against those wasting water or using tap water for non-drinking purposes.

Directing officials of various government authorities to make rainwater harvesting mandatory Bawankule told them that all the Government buildings, households in NMC area, and large properties in villages must have rainwater harvesting.

Taking steps to handle the serious water shortage, mayor Nanda Jichkar has requested corporators of all wards to plan and submit proposals for installing rainwater harvesting systems in their respective wards giving them the assurance that she will try to approve the schemes from the mayors fund.