Water

Reservoir levels up 42%, but storage still below half mark

Live storage levels in 103 reservoirs increased to 76.845 BCM from 54.258 BCM in a week

 
By Shagun
Published: Friday 09 August 2019

The live storage in 103 reservoirs in India has improved to 76.845 billion cubic metres (BCM), according to the weekly bulletin by Central Water Commission (CWC). This number was 54.258 BCM last week.

But, despite this increase, reservoirs hold only 47 per cent of their capacity.

Moreover, the amount of water all the reservoirs collectively hold is less than how much they had in the corresponding period last year (77.403 BCM) and the average storage of last 10 years during the same period (79.471 BCM).

At least two dams had 0 per cent live storage till August 8 — Yeldari in Maharashtra and Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, according to the bulletin.

In four other dams in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, and Odisha, the situation is equally grim with less than 10 per cent storage. At least 19 reservoirs have less than 50 per cent of the water they can hold.

Flooding, caused by heavy rains, has improved the water levels in southern states, especially in Karnataka and Kerala.

Less than average rainfall has pushed the water deficiency in Telangana and Karnataka reservoirs to 73 and 20 per cent from 70 and 18 per cent recorded on July 25.

The gap between departure from normal rainfall has closed from last week’s nine per cent to five per cent, according to the August 7 data released by India Meteorological Department.

While water storage in important rivers like Ganga and Mahanadi was close to normal till mid-July, the two rivers are now in deficient category along with Cauvery and neighbouring east flowing rivers. Water storage is highly deficient in Sabarmati and rivers of Kutch.

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