At least 25 per cent of India’s 155 major reservoirs were full this week with the storage in them increasing to 87 per cent of the capacity, data from the Central Water Commission (CWC) showed.

In its weekly bulletin, the CWC said, of the 155 reservoirs, 40 of them were full, while 12 had less than 50 per cent storage. Last week, 35 reservoirs were full and the level in 15 was less than 50 per cent. 

The CWC bulletin said the reservoir levels stood at 157.159 billion cubic metres (BCM) of the 180.852 BCM capacity.  This was 23 percentage points higher than the same period a year ago and 18 percentage points more than the normal storage (the level in the past 10 years). 

The better storage augurs well for rabi sowing, which will likely start from October. The higher level in the storages will aid better soil moisture in most parts of the country with the south-west monsoon being still active. 

Raining in excess

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), India has received 7 per cent excess rainfall during the south-west monsoon, which set in on May 30. Of the 724 districts from where data have been received, 24 per cent is still rain deficient. 

Three States — Punjab (-62 per cent), Himachal (-20 per cent) and Nagaland (-1 per cent) had lower than normal storage compared with four a week ago. According to IMD, 25 districts in Bihar, 22 in Uttar Pradesh, 10 in Odisha, 16 in Punjab and 12 in Assam have received deficient rainfall. 

Central India received 17 per cent excess rain during the monsoon as of September 19, while the southern peninsula received 16 per cent higher precipitation. The north-west received 7 per cent more than normal rainfall but the eastern and north-eastern region got 15 per cent lower precipitation. 

Reservoir status

In the 26 reservoirs of the central region, the level this week was 91 per cent of the 48.227 BCM capacity at 43.785 BCM. Reservoirs in Uttar Pradesh are filled to 78 per cent of the capacity, Uttarakhand 86 per cent, Madhya Pradesh 95 per cent and Chhattisgarh 87 per cent.

The level in the 43 reservoirs of the southern region was 87 per cent of the 54.634 BCM at 47.458 BCM. At 99 per cent, dams in Telangana are filled to the brim, while in Andhra Pradesh, the level was 56 per cent. In the reservoirs common to Telangana and Andhra, the storage was 92 per cent, while in Kerala it was 70 per cent. Tamil Nadu’s level was 81 per cent and that of Karnataka 93 per cent. 

In the northern region, the storage in the 11 reservoirs was 68 per cent or 13.581 BCM of the 19.836 BCM capacity. In Himachal, the storage was 61 per cent, while it was 23 per cent in Punjab’s only storage and 93 per cent in the seven reservoirs of Rajasthan. 

In the eastern region’s 25 reservoirs, the level was 84 per cent of the 20.798 BCM capacity at 17.473 BCM. Barring Assam, Bengal and Nagaland, which had a level of less than 65 per cent, the rest had storage of over 75 per cent. 

In the western region’s 50 reservoirs, the level was the highest - 93 per cent - of the 37.357 BCM capacity at  34.862 BCM. Goa’s only reservoir continued to be full, while the level in Maharashtra was 97 per cent and in Gujarat, 87 per cent. 

The level is expected to rise further with above-normal rainfall predicted for September. An IMD official forecast 20 per cent excess rain this month.

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