The southwest monsoon has become active across much of India. Heavy rains are lashing some states, leading to flood-like conditions in many places. Yet the state of the country’s reservoirs has become increasingly worrisome.
According to the latest weekly bulletin of the Central Water Commission (CWC), a total of 47.725 billion cubic metres (BCM) of water is available in the country’s 166 major reservoirs as on July 2, 2026. This is only 26 per cent of the total live storage capacity of 183.565 BCM in these reservoirs.
This amount represents only 61.13 per cent of the water available during the same period last year (78.077 BCM). It is also 1.4 per cent lower than the average storage of the past ten years (48.402 BCM).
At first glance, a mere 1.4 per cent drop from normal may seem minor. But it comes at a time when the monsoon has already reached most parts of the country, a period when reservoirs begin to fill rapidly.
In such a situation, remaining below normal indicates that the geographical distribution of rainfall is still uneven and many important catchment areas have not received adequate rainfall.
According to the CWC, water storage in 69 of India’s 166 major reservoirs has fallen to 80 per cent or less of normal levels. Of these, the situation in 34 reservoirs is extremely worrying, with 50 per cent or less of normal storage remaining. The reservoirs with the most critical conditions include Chandan Dam in Bihar (1.86 per cent), Rengali in Odisha (3.15 per cent), Almatti in Karnataka (10.35 per cent), and Tungabhadra (15.80 per cent).
The Bhima-Ujjaini reservoir of Maharashtra, Aliyar reservoir of Tamil Nadu and Maudaha reservoir of Uttar Pradesh have reached zero (0 per cent) levels compared to normal storage.
According to the CWC’s bulletin dated July 2, 2026, reservoir water storage in 13 states was below the 10-year average (normal). These include Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, Jharkhand, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, West Bengal, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
Of greatest concern are the southern states of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, where reservoir levels are 16 to 46 per cent below normal. In eastern India, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Mizoram, and Nagaland have also experienced significantly lower water storage than normal. Specifically, reservoir storage in West Bengal is approximately 62 per cent below normal, Mizoram approximately 54 per cent, Karnataka approximately 46 per cent, and Odisha approximately 19 per cent.
According to the Commission, if there is not enough rainfall in the catchment areas of these states in the coming weeks, the pressure on irrigation, drinking water supply and hydropower generation may increase.
Among river basins, the most concern is about the east flowing rivers between Krishna, Cauvery, Mahanadi and Pennar, Brahmani-Baitarani, Barak and others as well as west flowing rivers between Tapi and Tadri and from Tadri to Kanyakumari.
The CWC has classified all these basins as “deficient”, meaning that water storage in reservoirs here is 20 to 60 per cent below normal. However, it is a matter of relief that this time no river basin in the country has been classified as “severely deficient.”
In contrast, reservoir storage in the basins of Ganga, Narmada, Mahanadi, Godavari, Mahi, Tapi, Sabarmati, Pennar, east flowing rivers between Pennar and Kanyakumari and west flowing rivers of Kutch-Saurashtra and Luni region has been recorded better than normal.
Meanwhile, the Indus, Brahmaputra, and Subarnarekha basins remain near normal. This indicates that monsoon rainfall in the catchments of these river basins has been relatively good, and water levels in reservoirs remain near or above average.
According to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) as of July 2, of the country’s 741 districts, 325 (44 per cent) are in the rainfall-deficient category and 165 (22 per cent) are in the severe-deficient category. This means that about 66 per cent of India’s districts have received less than normal rainfall.
In contrast, only 30 districts (4 per cent) recorded excess, 60 districts (8 per cent) received excess, and 156 districts (21 per cent) received normal rainfall. Two districts received no rainfall, while data for three districts was not available.
At the state level, 57 out of 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh, 34 out of 38 districts of Bihar, 22 out of 30 districts of Odisha, 24 out of 33 districts of Telangana, 27 out of 36 districts of Maharashtra, 23 out of 24 districts of Jharkhand, 25 out of 35 districts of Assam, 31 out of 55 districts of Madhya Pradesh and 32 out of 33 districts of Chhattisgarh are in the category of less than normal or very less rainfall.
In contrast, most districts in Tamil Nadu recorded normal or above-normal rainfall, while several districts in Rajasthan and Punjab also received normal or above-normal rainfall. These figures indicate that while the monsoon’s progress across the country appears to be accelerating, its distribution remains highly uneven.