Ranchi/Dhanbad, Aug. 23: The bountiful rain in the last 48 hours has filled the reservoirs of Rukka, Kanke and Hatia, three dams that collectively take care of the drinking water needs for the state capital and its outskirts.

At Rukka, largest of the three, executive engineer Arun Kumar said the water level till this morning was 27 feet (danger mark above 28 feet) against a total capacity of 30 feet. "The water level isn't alarming, but we are keeping an eye on it. As of now, there is nothing to worry as the catchment area is vast and water is always available round the year," he said.

At Kanke dam, where three of its sluice gates were opened yesterday to bring down the water level as a precautionary measure, the situation was now under control.

"The water level is now at 18 feet (danger mark anything between 18.5 feet to 19 feet) after we emptied half a feet of water by opening the gates. The total capacity of the dam is around 20 feet," said Kanke dam executive engineer Rajesh Kumar, adding that water released from Kanke flowed into Rukka, via a rivulet.

He maintained that desilting of Kanke, coupled with good rains, had revived the dam. Asked about the immediate impact of opening the gates, Rajesh allayed fears of floods as the encroachments on the catchment areas had been removed.

State drinking water and sanitation department secretary A.P. Singh said Kanke dam was nearly full and hence orders were issued to release water. "It's the standard operating procedure which we follow. Today, Kanke dam is well below the danger mark. We will take a call again if it rains further," said he.

At Hatia dam, an official said, that water was being supplied to the city for three days even though the level had gone up because of the rain.

"Today, the water level stood at 17 feet against a capacity of 22 feet (danger mark 20.5 feet), but rationing is still continuing. That's because we need to first recharge the dam deep pits so that it can retain enough water," he said.

At Nirsa block of Dhanbad, near the border with Bengal, officials were concerned with the way the water levels had risen in Maithon and Panchet dams on the Barakar and Damodar rivers respectively.

As per DVC's daily bulletin, the water level at Maithon stood at 482.48 feet today, much below the danger mark of 495 feet. But at Panchet, the water was at 420.93 feet, close to the danger mark of 425 feet.

"We are taking all possible steps to minimise the release of water, but the level of water at Panchet is near the danger level," said PRO of DVC M. Vijay Kumar.

"Water is released on the instruction of the Central Water Commission and we don't take any decision on our own," he added, saying that the lack of rainfall in the region today had eased the crisis situation.