Storage in key reservoirs up for 8th week in a row

The water level in the 155 major Indian reservoirs in the country continued to rise for the eighth week in a row with the States having below-normal storage decreasing to six this week from eight last week, data from the Central Water Commission (CWC) showed.

CWC’s weekly bulletin on the live storage status of 155 reservoirs, the level improved to 72 per cent of the 180.852 billion cubic metres (BCM) capacity at 130.800 BCM. This is higher than the storage last year and the last 10 years average (normal level). 

Meanwhile, the CWC has increased the number of major storages under its watch to 155 from 150 with one reservoir each added in northern, southern and western regions and two reservoirs in the eastern region.

Above-normal monsoon

The higher storage has been helped by a 3 per cent above-normal rainfall during the current south-west monsoon, though the east and north-eastern regions have received 12 per cent deficient precipitation. Barring the southern region, the storage increased in the other four regions.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), data from the 725 districts show that 30 per cent have received deficient rain. The marginal drop in the storage in the southern region resulted in the level in Telangana reservoirs dropping to 3 per cent below normal from 9 per cent above normal. Tamil Nadu continues to enjoy from excess rain this year with its storages filled to 94 per cent of capacity. 

North below-normal

The storage in reservoirs common to Telangana and Andhra is 97 per cent of capacity, while in Karnataka it is 86 per cent. The level in Kerala and Andhra are 65 per cent and 38 per cent of capacity. Overall, the storage in 43 reservoirs of the southern region is 80 per cent of the 54.634 BCM capacity at 43.495 BCM.

All the 3 States in the northern region — Himachal Pradesh (-24 per cent), Punjab (-58 per cent) and Rajasthan (-30 per cent) — had below-normal storage. The level in the 11 reservoirs in the region was 53 per cent of the 19.836 BCM capacity at 10.538 BCM. 

In the eastern region, Bihar (-26 per cent) and West Bengal (-12 per cent) had lower-than-normal storage. The level in the 25 reservoirs of the region was 60 per cent of the 20.798 BCM capacity at 12.550 BCM.

In the 50 reservoirs of the western region, the level was 27.526 BCM or  74 per cent of the 37.357 BCM capacity. The storage in Maharashtra and Gujarat remained unchanged.

The 26 reservoirs in the central region had a 76 per cent storage of 48.227 BCM capacity at 36.691 BCM. Uttarakhand still had a below-normal (-5 per cent) storage.