Pune: Activists Cry Foul Over ₹315 Crore Allocation For Temghar Dam Repairs

Amid the rising temperatures, water scarcity is looming over Pune City. Additionally, water levels have dropped at the four major dams providing water to the entire city — Khadakwasla, Temghar, Panshet and Varasgaon. According to the irrigation department, the situation is worsened due to leakages found in the Temghar dam. The dam's walls developed major leakages in 2016, following which the state government initiated urgent repairs. Seepage through cracks was brought down to 210 LPS (litres per second) from 2,500 LPS, plugging around 90% of gaps. Last year, a proposal was made to allocate more funds for repairing the dam. Now, the Maharashtra Cabinet has approved a budget of Rs 315.05 crore for the much-needed repairs of Temghar Dam. However, the decision has not been welcomed by activists, who criticise the government for a lack of transparency and accountability.

Dilip Vishwakarma, an activist, said, "A proposal to allocate more funds to the project was pending with the state govt since last year. However, now it has been sanctioned, but this is a complete eyewash. Five years back, the state sanctioned Rs 50 crore for the repair and maintenance of this dam, and now again, Rs 315 crore has been given. In this amount, they could have built another wall instead of repairing it. They flout tenders but don't check the quality of work. If they keep putting huge amounts into repair work now and then, it's an absolute waste of taxpayers' money. There's a possible misuse or mismanagement of funds. But still, the concern remains, where exactly is the money going?"

"Temghar Dam repair contracts and stormwater drain cleaning contracts in cities like Pune and Mumbai — both are seen as lucrative opportunities where the competition among contractors is high as winning such contracts is often considered equivalent to winning a lottery not just for the contractors, but also for certain officials within the administration," added Vishwakarma.

Temghar Dam can store 3.7 TMC of water. As of now, the dam holds 0.37 TMC of live water. However, due to the leakages, the irrigation department has reduced the dam's water storage. For the past three years, the water level has been maintained at 100 per cent during the monsoon, but the stock is reduced to 10 per cent to avoid any water loss during summers. The remaining 90 per cent is sent to Khadakwasla for storage.

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