Khadakwasla dam model of water storage to be replicated across India
Khadakwasla : The successful experiment to desilting the dam and increase the water holding capacity of the lake, known as the Khadakwasla Model, is to be replicated at national level. Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti has taken note of the initiative after her visit to the dam on Tuesday during her Pune tour and pledged that she would dedicate the model to the nation and at the same time would be replicated at different locations in the country.
Impressed by intiative of Mr Patil, the minister has further asked Colonel Patil to conduct a workshop for the government water resources department of seven non Gangetic states of India comprising of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The minister has further called Colonel Patil to meet her at the Water Resources Ministry, New Delhi and chalk out a national strategy of desilting dams in the country.
She further said that she had spoken to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over water conservation being done by Green Thumb Foundation at Khadakwasla dam in Pune and has suggested that similar methodologies can be applied for greater success in the field of community water conservation movements across the state and the nation. The minister aslo added that she would soon be dedicating the Khadakwasla project to the nation.
Colonel Suresh Patil from Pune started the initiative of desilting the Khadakwasla dam lake through his organization Green Thumb. He received help from Pune Municipal Corporation, the Water Resources Department, Shriman Dagdusheth Ganpati Mandal etc. The experiment involves dredging out the silt from the bottom of the lake and increase its water holding capacity and achieving the environment conservation by carrying out forestation along the dam. Col. Suresh Patil said that the initiative that started five years ago has achieved an increase of 0.25 TMC of water in the lake.
This noble initiative by Col. Patil has received national and international appreciation. Union Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari also visited the Khadakwasla dam some days ago and praised Col. Suresh Patil. Later, Col. Patil made a presentation on the initiative in a water conference held in Italy. Earlier, he had also made a presentation before Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti on the Khadakwasla Model in New Delhi. Within few minutes of the presentation, Bharti had said that she would visiting the dam and kept her word. Accordingly, she visited Greem Thumb portion of the dam on Tuesday.
Col. Suresh Patil said, “After the silt is dredged out of the dam, it is given to the farmers in the vicinity for farming. This will achieve water revolution as well as economic revolution. We have initiated many experiments like forestation on the barren land along the bank of the dam, bird sanctuary, garden etc. It has helped a lot in the environment conservation.”
The Green Thumb organization is endeavoring for last few years to increase the water holding capacity of Khadakwasla dam and the attempt is bearing fruits. Today, only 18 to 20 percent rainwater is stored in the big and small dams in the country. Building new dams to store dam is not affordable. Hence, only desilting the dams and rejuvenating them will solve the problem of drinking and agriculture water. This work can be done through the people’s participation and government’s help. As of today, 80 percent of rainwater flows to sea and is ultimately wasted. However, with such projects, we can 40 percent extra water. Such projects are needed all over the country. More than two lakhs ex-servicemen will participate in it all over the country, said Col. Suresh Patil.
