Kolhapur: Authorities of Koyna dam, considering the increasing demand for irrigation, on Friday afternoon increased the discharge from 2,100 to 3,600 cusecs into the Koyna River — a tributary of the Krishna River.Farmers and those living around the banks of the river in Patan and Karad tehsils of Satara district have been put on alert by the Koyna Dam administration.This discharge will provide a major boost to Tembhu, Takari and Mhaisal lift irrigation schemes in Sangli district. Currently, about 53% of the pumps of the Tembhu scheme, 63% of the Takari scheme, and around 50% of the pumps of the Mhaisal scheme are working. However, it is expected that the pumps of all three schemes will start operating at full capacity after the increased discharge.Ashish Jadhav, sub-divisional engineer of Koyna dam, said, “The available gross water storage in the Koyna Dam on Friday at 2 pm was 62% — 65.5 TMC out of a total capacity of 105 TMC. With the completion of the repair work of the stilling basin of the Koyna dam, it has now been possible to increase the discharge. The schemes that were running at limited capacity till now will be running at full capacity henceforth. Considering the possibility of water shortage in the summer, this increased release will be a relief for the farmers.“
