Water

Reservoir levels now at 79%

There’s 133.588 billion cubic metre of water in 113 reservoirs in the country

 
By Shagun
Published: Friday 06 September 2019

The live storage in 113 reservoirs in the country has risen to 79 per cent, according to a weekly bulletin by the Central Water Commission (CWC) released for the week through September 5, 2019.

These reservoirs hold 133.588 BCM (billion cubic metre) of water. Till last week, the CWC was monitoring 107 reservoirs and their live storage was 76 per cent of their total capacity.

The overall storage position improved substantially this week. It was better than the corresponding period of last year and the average storage of last 10 years during this period, said the CWC.

However, despite above normal rainfall in most parts of the country, reservoirs in seven states still hold less water than their normal storage capacity. These states are Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Nagaland, Tripura, and Chhattisgarh.

In Telangana, the departure from normal storage is as high as 34 per cent. States like Kerala and Uttarakhand are on the verge with just one and three per cent excess live storage in their reservoirs, respectively.

The situation at Omkareshwar dam in Madhya Pradesh and Yeldari dam in Maharashtra was grim with zero per cent live storage, while seven others have less than 50 per cent storage.

As a result, all river basins, with the exception of Sabarmati, have better than normal storage position. But, 2019 monsoon has been the slowest progressing in at least 12 years, data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) showed.

According to IMD data, the country received two per cent surplus rainfall last week (August 29-September 4). 

These include Ganga, Indus, Narmada, Tapi, Mahi, Rivers of Kutch, Godavari, Krishna, Mahanadi and neighbouring East Flowing Rivers (EFRs), Cauvery and neighbouring EFRs and West Flowing Rivers of south.

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