City to get only 30MCM water

Surat: Surat irrigation circle has been releasing only limited quantity of water for Surat city since March 21. In all 30 million cubic metre (MCM) of water will be released for Surat in March to maintain weir level at 5 metre near Singanpore. However, hyacinth, that covers a stretch of 20km of river Tapi, is absorbing most of the water, sources said.
SMC water committee chairman Pravin Ghoghari, who is also BJP MLA from Karanj, said, “We have to regularly write to the state government to release water and also remove water vegetation from the riverbed because it consumes more water than vaporization.”
Additional city engineer, SMC, K H Khatwani said, “The weight of water hyacinth when dries up becomes half. This means water makes up 80 per cent of hyacinth’s weight.”
Officials of SMC’s water department are bothered because the water level near weir-cum-causeway has reached 4.80 metre. At present, the water level in Ukai dam was 308.30 feet, which means there is 1,849 MCM of water left in the reservoir. Water supply to Surat gets hampered and quality falls when there is no stable supply. When less water is made available from Ukai dam, it affects water supply in the city.
The irrigation department has been supplying water to Surat city from its allotted quota of 200 MCM until June, 2018. Superintending engineer, Surat irrigation circle, S Mahakal said, “We will see to it that there is no drinking water problem in the city. It would be good if SMC finds a long-term solution to the problem of growth of water hyacinth in Tapi riverbed. Such vegetation causes impurities in the water and also damages our pumping machinery.”
by via Surat News, Latest Surat News Headlines & Live Updates - Times of India