Storage in major Indian reservoirs drops as many districts receive deficient rain

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The water level in the major 150 reservoirs in the country dropped this week to 73 per cent of the 178.784 billion cubic metres (BCM) capacity from 74 per cent last week. 

The storage is 19 percentage points lower than last year and compared with the last 10 years’ average, it  was down 8 percentage points.

The current storage is, according to the Central Water Commission (CWC) weekly bulletin, 129.636 BCM (132.037 BCM last week) with the levels decreasing across all regions in the country. Most part of the country receiving deficient or largely deficient or no rainfall last week has led to the current situation.

34% districts largely deficient

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), 8 per cent of the 713 reporting districts received no rain since the beginning of the month, while 34 per cent of them were largely deficient. The rainfall was normal only in 12 per cent of the reporting districts, while 18 per cent received deficient precipitation. 

According to CWC, 106 reservoirs have storage of over 80 per cent of the normal level, while in 44 ones, it is 80 per cent or below. Of the 44, the level in 13 ones is below 50 per cent of the normal.  Last week, the numbers were 114, 36 and 11 respectively – an indication of lack of rains in the catchment areas this week.

Worrisome south

As per the bulletin, the situation in the south is a little worrisome. The storage in the southern region is 48 per cent (49 per cent last week) or 25.361 BCM of the 53.334 BCM capacity. Among the States, the situation improved in Tamil Nadu and Kerala but worsened in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

In the North, the level was 80.9 per cent (82.3 per cent) or 15.914 BCM of 19.663 BCM capacity. In Punjab, the level was 13 per cent (-14 per cent last week) below normal, while in Rajasthan it improved to 4 per cent above normal.

In the eastern region, the storage declined to 77.1 per cent (80 per cent) or 15.764 BCM of the 20.430 BCM capacity. The level dropped in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha but improved in Assam. 

In the central region, the water level declined by 1 percentage point to 83 per cent of the capacity against 84 per cent last week. The situation improved in Madhya Pradesh but remained negative in Uttar Pradesh.

In the western region, the storage dropped by 1 percentage point to 88 per cent of the capacity. The level declined in Gujarat and Maharashtra.