Bihar has recieved 99% less than normal rains during the first week of June
Fourteen of 23 reservoirs in Bihar have dead storage level (DSL) water even as groundwater levels are dipping in 13 of the state’s 38 districts amid an ongoing heatwave, according to officials.
It is an alarming situation as the southwest monsoon is likely to be delayed. It is set to reach the state after June 18 as predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) centre in Patna. Usually, the monsoon arrives in Bihar after June 12 or 13.
Officials of the Bihar Water Resources Department (WRD) told this reporter that nearly 60 per cent reservoirs have very little or almost no water. Forty per cent have water a little over DSL. But it is of no use for irrigation.
According to WRD officials, DSL is an indicator of extremely low water levels in a reservoir. This lowest volume of stored water is of no use.
A few reservoirs have water above DSL, according to the latest official data of WRD.
The Durgawati reservoir in Kaimur district has a volume of water 25 feet above DSL. Similarly, the Chanan reservoir in Banka district has water about 16 feet above DSL. The Kharagpur reservoir in Munger district has water 12 feet above DSL.
Water levels have reached DSL in reservoirs that are located in the Banka, Munger, Jamui, Lakhisarai,
A senior official of the state Disaster Management Department (DMD) said reservoirs are drying due to heavy rainfall deficiency.
Bihar has recieved 99 per cent less than normal rains during the first week of June. Besides, the state has recieved 88 per cent less than normal pre-monsoon rains during April-May this summer.
“Most of reservoirs are rain-fed. No pre-monsoon rains and rising temperature along with heatwaves and hot winds resulted in DSL in 13 reservoirs across the state,” the official said.
Both WRD and DMD officials admitted that there are reports of ponds, canals, rivers and other water bodies having dried up at different places in the state due to rising temperatutes and a long spell of heatwaves in April, May and June.
In July last year (2022) only three of the 23 reservoirs had over 40 per cent water and five reservoirs had water below DSL. The others had water less than normal levels.
But the state’s reservoirs had adequate water levels in 2021, 2020 and 2019. “The water storage in reservoirs was sufficient due to good pre-monsoon and timely monsoon rains. We expect that water levels in the reservoirs will improve following the rains,” a senior official in the WRD told this reporter on the condition of anonymity.
Local Hindi dailies are reporting a drinking water crisis in several districts where water tanker are being used by local authorities to supply water.
According to the data of Bihar Economic Survey (2022-23), groundwater levels were at least 10 metres (m) below ground in districts like Aurangabad, Nawada, Kaimur and Jamui during the pre-monsoon period in 2021.
The pre-monsoon groundwater level in Aurangabad was 10.59 m in 2020. But it dipped to 10.97 m in 2021. A similar situation was reported in other districts:
The IMD has issued a heatwave alert in 26 districts on June 9 including severe heatwave conditons in 10 districts. A maximum temperature of 44.5 degrees Celsius was recorded in Khagaria district on June 8, according to IMD data.
Patna also recorded 44 degrees Celsius.
IMD scientist Ashish Kumar said heatwave conditions will continue through June 10 and a change in the weather is likely from June 11 in some parts of the state.
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