Totladoh dam at 25.33% as water is stolen from Kanhan and Pench canals and sold by tanker

Water shortage is deepening in Nagpur city and district. Amid this, a serious case of large-scale water theft from rivers and canals has come to light. While people are being urged to use water sparingly, some are illegally diverting water from the Kanhan river and the Pench canals into private farms and wells and selling it by tanker.

Stock in Totladoh dam, the district's largest water source, has fallen to just 25.33 per cent. Water availability was already a worry, and the theft has raised questions about water resource management. The water resources department has begun preparing strict steps to stop it.

The 16 major dams of the Nagpur division now hold a total of 4,303.42 million cubic metres, or 58.74 per cent. Storage is down by 5 to 6 TMC compared with last year, so the available water must be managed closely.

Along a stretch of about 32 km from the Kanhan river and the Navegaon-Khairi dam to the Kanhan water treatment plant, some farmers are drawing water by installing pumps directly. The water resources department has received complaints about this. It has also emerged that water released into canals for irrigation is not reaching the tail end.

In some places pipelines have been broken, and in others pits have been dug to channel the flow towards fields. Earlier, cases had also come to light of water being diverted through leaks deliberately made at three separate points in Pench's 2,300 mm diameter main pipeline.

The municipal corporation lifts 730 to 750 MLD of raw water daily from the Pench and Kanhan rivers. About 520 MLD is supplied from Pench's four water treatment plants and 220 MLD from the Kanhan plant. According to a report, about 255 MLD of the total water lifted, or 35 to 40 per cent, is being lost to leakage and theft. With demand rising, this is considered extremely serious.

The theft is not limited to rivers and canals. Water is also being stolen in the city through illegal tap connections. The municipal corporation and Orange City Water ran a special drive in June-July 2025, in which more than 5,000 illegal tap connections were cut.

Of these, 2,566 connections were wholly unauthorised. In 362 cases water was being taken before the meter, while double tap connections were found at 1,642 places. Asi Nagar zone had the most, with 1,003 unauthorised tap connections. The figures had exposed a large network of water theft in the city.