Current live storage of reservoirs at 25% of total capacity: CWC

Current live storage of reservoirs at 25% of total capacity: CWC

The live storage of the country's major reservoirs has seen a decline and is currently at 25 per cent, according to the Central Water Commission's (CWC) weekly bulletin. There is 45.277 billion cubic metres (BCM) of water in 150 major reservoirs, it said. The reservoirs under monitoring include 20 hydro-electric project reservoirs that collectively have a live storage capacity of 35.299 BCM.

The CWC reported the live storage levels of the 150 reservoirs in its May 10 to May 16 bulletin . "The current live storage stands at 45.277 BCM, which is only 25 per cent of the total capacity of these reservoirs. This marks a notable decrease from last year's corresponding period (May 10 to May 16), which saw 57.993 BCM, and the normal storage of 49.074 BCM," the CWC said.

The present storage is 78 per cent of last year's levels and 92 per cent of the normal storage, the weekly bulletin stated. The northern region — Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan — has 10 monitored reservoirs with a total capacity of 19.663 BCM.

"Currently, these hold 5.618 BCM (29 per cent of capacity), down from 37 per cent last year and below the normal 32 per cent," the CWC said. The eastern region — Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, Nagaland and Bihar — has 23 reservoirs with a capacity of 20.430 BCM.

"These reservoirs currently store 6.531 BCM (31.97 per cent), an improvement over last year's 28 per cent and slightly better than the normal 31.58 per cent," the commission said. In Gujarat and Maharashtra (western region), the 49 monitored reservoirs have a total capacity of 37.130 BCM.

"At present, these hold 9.696 BCM (26.11 per cent), a decline from last year's 32 per cent and below the normal 26.38 per cent," the CWC said. Covering Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the Central region's 26 reservoirs have a total capacity of 48.227 BCM.

"They currently store 15.938 BCM (33 per cent), which is lower than last year's 40 per cent but above the normal 32 per cent," the commission sad. The southern region — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu — has 42 reservoirs having a capacity of 53.334 BCM.

The current storage is "7.494 BCM (14 per cent), significantly less than last year's 26 per cent and the normal 21 per cent", it said. The overall storage position across the country is below last year's levels and the normal storage figures.

A detailed analysis indicates that while some basins like Subarnarekha, Brahmaputra and Narmada have better than normal storage, others like Godavari and Krishna basins are facing deficient to highly deficient storage levels, the commission said. Among the states, Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tripura, Nagaland, Gujarat, and Kerala have shown improved storage compared to last year, it said.

Uttarakhand has maintained similar levels, while states like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, and others have reported lesser storage than last year, the CWC said.