Manjra River and Water Management in Nanded

The Manjra river, a Godavari tributary, flows through Nanded district providing irrigation water for rabi crops. The Manjra reservoir (Lower Manjra Dam) in Bidar district upstream stores water for both Bidar and Nanded districts through inter-state water allocation. Traditional tank irrigation in Nanded relied on a chain of percolation tanks and village ponds maintained by community effort. Nanded's basalt landscape makes deep groundwater drilling expensive and yields limited; surface water from Godavari and Manjra is the primary source. Traditional practices of protecting watershed catchments (orans or devrai sacred groves) near tank inlets maintained water quality and flow. The Maharashtra MGNREGS programme has prioritised water conservation works in Nanded district, constructing farm ponds, percolation tanks, and contour bunds across thousands of hectares. The Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan converted seasonal nallahs (streams) into year-round water storage by deepening and widening channel beds.