Minister for water resources Girish Mahajan on Wednesday said that the total volume of water that would be used for Shahi Snans (holy bath) during the Kumbh Mela in Nashik would not exceed half a TMC.

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Bombay High Court had pulled up the state government on Monday while hearing a petition filed by former state planning commission member HM Desarda. Desarda had approached the court and argued in person that water was a natural resource and it was not being utilised judiciously, especially taking into account the drought situation in the state.

Desarda had argued that the government policy underlined drinking water as the highest priority. He pointed out that agriculture and industry came after drinking water and these kind of Shahi Snans should be the last priority for using water. The high court had ordered the state government to take steps to reduce the volume of water for Shahi Snans during the Kumbh Mela. The third Shahi Snan is scheduled on September 18.

Mahajan informed that he saw the news on Doordarshan about the high court decision. He said that the media reports are stating that 3 TMC water is being used but the government has so far used 275 MCFt water for first two Shahi Snans and taking in to account the water to be used for all three Shahi Snans would not exceed 400 to 450 MCFt (half a TMC). The minister said he was not aware how the figure of 3 TMC came about and maintained that the government would use less than half a TMC of water.