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The decision of the BJP-led state government is being seen in political circles as a jolt to Pawar, who won several times from the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency, which is now held by his daughter Supriya Sule. Till now, some water from the Nira Deoghar dam in Pune was being diverted to Baramati and Indapur (a part of Baramati Lok Sabha constituency).
During the recent Lok Sabha poll campaign, BJP leader Ranjit Naik-Nimbalkar raised the issue of distribution of “additional” water to Baramati.
Naik-Nimbalkar, who switched over from the Congress and won the Lok Sabha election from Madha seat in Solapur district on BJP’s ticket, claimed that Baramati and Indapur were outside the Nira Deoghar dam’s “command area”. Due to the diversion of water to sugarcane farms in Baramati from the dam’s left bank canal, the neighbouring districts of Solapur and Satara were not getting adequate drinking water, he said.
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The left bank of Nira Deoghar dam is 11-km long and is not covered in its command area, while the 208-km right bank has several drought-affected areas falling under it, he added.