“Instructions are that the dam should be filled only up to 75 per cent of its capacity and excess water should be released in the river. However, the Khadakwasla dam is small in size with a capacity of 2.75 TMC so it gets filled faster than other dams. So, the instructions are to fill Khadakwasla dam to 50 per cent of its capacity and release excess water into the Mutha River so that a situation like today is not reported,” Pawar said.

“Even if it rains heavily, sufficient storage capacity will be available and there will be no need to release a large quantity of water in a short span,” he added.

Pawar rushed to Pune from Mumbai to monitor rescue operations as heavy rain in the city inundated localities, submerged bridges, damaged homes, and left hundreds stranded on Thursday. Pune received 114.1 mm of rainfall on Thursday – the tenth highest rainfall ever recorded in the city, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

“Authorities have been directed to release as much water they want to release before 7 pm so that citizens do not face problems at night due to flooding,” he said, adding that the catchment area of Khadakwasla dam saw 8 inches of rain and Pune city, 3.75 inches of rain.

There are four dams upstream of the Mutha River – Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar. The latter three, however, are larger in size and were not filled so no water was released from them. Water was released from Mulshi dam, which is upstream of Mula River, and this water added to the Mutha River, further swelling it downstream of Bundgarden.