Enthusiasm reigned on the banks of Shivaji Sagar reservoir, as people from neighbouring villages flocked the lake to witness the `lake tapping', the first of its kind in Asia.

Standing on the hilly terrain of the Koyna backwater, people were all ears to the announcements made by Shrikant Huddar, chief engineer of the Koyna Hydel project. And as Huddar instructed his subordinates to switch on the Konsbergs underwater cameras, the countdown for the million dollar blast had begun.

Beginning from 10, Huddar launched his countdown and just after he had announcedzero, within a fraction of a second after Chief Minister Narayan Rane had switched knobs activating the blastings, hundreds of people felt waves of tremors passing under their feet. Suddenly, a mushroom flower-like cloud of water erupted from Shivaji Sagar reservoir, and ripples after ripples hit the banks. Soon after the ripples hit the banks, villagers standing on the banks lifted the water from the reservoir and gently applied it to their foreheads. No one could hear the sound of the blasts, but they had certainly felt it deep inside their hearts. Certainly it was a moment to cherish.

Planned for 1000 MW power generation, the fourth stage of Koyna hydro electric project, envisages that the water will be tapped by piercing the Koyna reservoir, following which it will be carried through a 4.25 km-long head race tunnel into the underground power house. The water will be finally released in Kolkewadi lake of stage III.

Speaking on the occasion after the blasts had been conducted, ministers Eknath Khadase,Anna Dange, Harshvardhan Patil, Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde and Chief Minister Narayan Rane were all praise for the State irrigation department. While Irrigation Minister Khadse said such blasts could be replicated in future to generate more power, Rural Development Minister Anna Dange actually coined a couplet describing the event.Munde, who also holds the energy portfolio, expressed his gratitude to irrigation department for inviting him to witness the `lake tapping'. He also said the `event' was a major leap towards the State Government's dream to be self-sufficient in power generation.

``At present there is a shortage of nearly 1000-1500 MW of power in the State. This difference will be reduced after the Koyna fourth stage starts generating 1000 MW power,'' he said. Chief Minister was also all praise for the irrigation department and said this development would go a long way in providing excess power for the State.

The Koyana dam is at Koynanagar in Patan tehsil of Satara district in theSahyadaris. Its Shivaji Sagar reservoir has a capacity of 2,797 million cubic metres of water. The Rs 1,300 crore stage-four project is a World Bank funded project having commenced in 1992.