Nagpur’s water supply faces heightened pressure after Totladoh reservoir lost 65.63 million cubic metres (MCM) of live storage in 10 days, with the city’s main water source falling to 44.73% of its designed live capacity, according to Water Resources Department data reported by the Times of India.
Totladoh’s live storage declined from 520.55 MCM on October 5 to 454.92 MCM on October 15. The average depletion during the period was 6.56 MCM a day. The reservoir had held 51.19% of its designed live storage on October 5, compared with 44.73% 10 days later.
The year-on-year comparison is significantly weaker. On October 15 last year, Totladoh held 99.68% of its designed live storage. The reservoir has a designed live capacity of 1,016.93 MCM and supplies around 520 million litres per day (MLD) to Nagpur through the Pench system.
Nagpur currently receives around 740 MLD of treated water. Totladoh accounts for about 520 MLD, while another 220 MLD is drawn from the Kanhan river. The reservoir therefore supplies roughly 70% of the city’s daily water requirement, making its storage position central to the reliability of municipal supply.
A senior WRD official told the Times of India that, apart from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, 15 other government agencies draw water from Totladoh. These include power stations, municipal councils, nagar panchayats and gram panchayats. The multiple users add to the management challenge as the city moves towards the summer of 2027.
Storage has also declined in Kamthi Khairy reservoir, another important water source in the Nagpur region. Its live storage fell from 112.14 MCM on October 5 to 101.06 MCM on October 15, a reduction of 11.08 MCM. Its storage level dropped from 78.98% to 71.18% of designed live capacity.
Other reservoirs have recorded declines over the same period. Khindsi’s live storage fell from 71.04 MCM to 57.68 MCM, Nand’s from 45.61 MCM to 41.08 MCM, and Wadgaon’s from 80.48 MCM to 74.92 MCM.
The state has reserved water for drinking purposes until August 2027. However, current storage levels and the recent rate of depletion have raised concerns about how available stocks will be managed through the coming summer, particularly as Totladoh supports the majority of Nagpur’s treated water supply.
At the recent rate of depletion, Totladoh’s live storage would theoretically last about 69 days and Kamthi Khairy’s about 91 days. The source cited in the report clarified that these are mathematical projections rather than definitive forecasts. Actual reservoir levels will depend on planned releases, fresh inflows and irrigation requirements.
The immediate water-management task is to regulate withdrawals and releases across the reservoirs while maintaining drinking-water allocations. Further storage changes, official release decisions and inflows will determine the supply position until the next monsoon replenishes the region’s reservoirs.
