Storage in major Indian reservoirs drops to 20% of capacity
With India receiving 19 per cent deficient rainfall so far from the south-west monsoon, the storage level in the major 150 reservoirs dropped for the 38th week in a row this week, data from the Central Water Commission (CWC) showed.
The level dropped to 20 per cent of the 178.784 billion cubic metres (BCM) at 36.368 BCM, CWC said in its weekly bulletin on live storage storage status of the 150 major reservoirs. The storage this year is 78 per cent of last year’s level and 85 per cent of normal.
With the storage in Madhya Pradesh dropping below normal, only five States have above-normal storage. Andhra Pradesh tops the States in below normal storage with the level being 78 per cent lower than usual. Bihar was next at 69 per cent lower than normal storage, while in Tamil Nadu it was 48 per cent.
Delay in kharif sowing
The lower storage in the reservoirs coupled with the south-west monsoon playing truant after setting in two days early has delayed kharif sowing. Key crops such as paddy, coarse cereals, oilseeds and pulses will likely face problems due to this. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the monsoon was 19 per cent deficient as of June 27.
Shailendra Singh Rao, Founder, Creduce, said the distribution of monsoon has not been uniform. “While some regions have experienced heavy downpours, others have experienced deficits,” he said.
IMD data showed that while the southern region has received 16 per cent excess rainfall, the eastern region is 21 per cent deficient. Most importantly, the central and north-west regions, which are key for kharif crops, have received 22 per cent and 44 per cent deficient rainfall, respectively.
The IMD said conditions are favourable for the monsoon to advance further into Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Himachal and Jammu over the next 2-3 days.
Below 50% level in 138
Though El Nino, which emerged in June 2023 resulting in one-fourth of the country being drought-hit, has ended, sea surface temperatures continue to be warm affecting the progress of monsoon.
Of the 150 major reservoirs, the storage in 138 is below 50 per cent of the capacity. Among these, the level in 126 is below 40 per cent.
In the northern region, the level in all the 10 reservoirs is below 40 per cent with storage in Himachal, Punjab and Rajasthan below normal by 3 per cent, 36 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively. Overall, the region’s storage was 27 per cent of the 19.663 BCM capacity at 5.239 BCM.
The situation in 42 reservoirs of the southern region was unchanged this week with the level being 16 per cent of the 53.334 BCM capacity at 8.322 BCM. Apart from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the storage in Karnataka was 30 per cent below normal and in Telangana 4 per cent lower than usual.
All below 50% in west
Of the 23 reservoirs in the eastern region, the level in 15 were below 40 per cent of the capacity. Of the 20.43 BCM capacity, the level was 17.83 per cent at 3.643 BCM. West Bengal (-35 per cent), Tripura (-16 per cent) and Nagaland (-13 per cent) all had below normal storage.
In the western region too, the storage in all the 49 reservoirs dropped below 50 per cent of the capacity with the level in Maharashtra being 19 per cent below normal. Overall, the reservoirs’ level was 20.12 per cent of the 37.130 BCM capacity at 7.471 BCM.
Barring the Gandhi Sagar storage in Madhya Pradesh, the remaining 25 reservoirs in the central regions were filled to less than half the capacity. Of the total capacity of 48.227 BCM, the storage was 24 per cent at 11.693 BCM.