Pune: Baba Bhide Bridge Submerged as Khadakwasla Dam Discharge Raised to 29,117 Cusecs
Pune, 3rd August 2026: The popular Bhide Bridge across the Mutha river was submerged on Monday afternoon after authorities sharply increased the discharge from the Khadakwasla dam to 29,117 cusecs, following heavy rainfall in the dam catchment area and a rapid rise in water levels.
The Khadakwasla Irrigation Division said the discharge from the dam’s spillway was increased from 24,277 cusecs to 29,117 cusecs at 3 pm. Officials cautioned that the release may be increased or reduced further depending on rainfall and inflows into the reservoir.
The irrigation department appealed to citizens to stay away from the riverbed and urged residents in low-lying areas to remain alert. It also asked people to immediately shift livestock and any material lying in the riverbed to safer locations.
According to the department’s 5 pm update, Khadakwasla dam received 10 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours and remained at 100% live storage, with an inflow of 285 mcft. Since the beginning of the monsoon, a total of 7.88 TMC of water has been released through the spillway.
The entire Khadakwasla dam complex is almost full, with the combined storage in Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar dams reaching 29.01 TMC (99.54%), compared to 25.76 TMC (88.38%) during the corresponding period last year.
Panshet and Varasgaon dams are also at 100% capacity, while Temghar has reached 95.5% storage. At 5 pm, water was being released at 9,534 cusecs from Panshet and 9,847 cusecs from Varasgaon, while no spillway discharge was reported from Temghar.
Police and civic authorities have advised people to avoid venturing near the Mutha river as the high discharge has raised the river’s water level, leading to the submergence of Bhide Bridge, a popular low-level crossing in the city.
