NEW DELHI: With mercury soaring across the country , the water storage availability in India’s 91 major reservoirs has further dipped -from 37.92 billion cubic metre (BCM) on April 7 to 35.83 BCM on April 13 -and the trend shows the decline will continue till the onset of monsoon.
The water availability on April 13 was just approximately 23% of the total storage capacity (157.79 BCM) of these reservoirs which not only supply drinking water to many townscities but also provide water for irrigation.Thirty-seven out of these 91 reservoirs have hydro-power facilities having installed capacities of more than 60 MW.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) -an apex body which monitors water availability in these key reservoirs -observed that the water storage as on April 13 was 67% of the storage of corresponding period last year.
The decline in water storage to the present level can be attributed to two consecutive drought years. The country had recorded 12% deficit monsoon rainfall in 2014 and 14% deficit monsoon rainfall last year.
Though it is normal for water bodies to deplete sharply in the pre-monsoon summer months, the CWC has been keeping a close watch on the storage of these reservoirs so that the available water can be distributed properly till the monsoon rains arrive.
Most of these reservoirs get water during June-Sep tember’s south-west (summer) monsoon while reservoirs in Tamil Nadu get water during October-December’s north-east (winter) monsoon phase of rainall.
Since the Indian Meteorological Department has recently predicted good monsoon rainfall this year, it is expected that these reservoirs will get enough water during June-September period.The availability of water in these reservoirs will also give a clue to the status of Rabi crops later this year.
Thirty-one out of 91reservoirs, monitored by the CWC, are in south India followed by 27 in west, 15 in east, 12 in central and six in northern region of the country .
At present, the states having lesser water in their reservoirs than the corresponding period last year are: Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
