According to the latest data, Ujani's live storage stood at 74.17% of its total useful capacity

Officials attribute surge in water levels to timely upstream releases and early monsoon runoff

- Gayatri Vajpeyee

PUNE: The Ujani dam in Maharashtra's Solapur district — one of the largest dams in the state — released 50,000 cusecs of water Tuesday evening. Never before has so much water been released from the dam in the month of June. The early release, triggered by sustained rainfall since May 9, marks an unprecedented rise in water levels of the dam earlier than usual.

Raosaheb More, executive engineer, Ujani Dam Project, said, "With storage crossing 70% over the past few days, we initiated controlled water release. As of this morning, the outflow has reached 50,000 cusecs. Never before has Ujani seen such levels in June."

According to the latest data from the state water resources department, Ujani's live storage stood at 1,125.38 million cubic metres (MCM) or 74.17% of its total useful capacity as of June 24. This marks a dip from 1,161.80 MCM or 76.58% of its total useful capacity recorded the previous day at 8 am. On the same date last year, the dam had zero usable stock.