With the mercury soaring, water stock in 91 major reservoirs across the country has plunged to 23 percent of their total capacity, government said today.
According to the Water Resources Ministry, 35.839 billion cubic metre (BCM) of stock was available in these reservoirs for the week ending April 13 out of a total capacity of 157.799 BCM.
The levels are 33 percent less than the stock available during the corresponding period last year, the Ministry said.
The stock is 23 percent less than the 10-year average storage levels for the same period.
Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, West Bengal, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala have reported lower levels of water in major reservoirs compared to the previous year.
Only two states, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura, have reported better storage vis-a-vis last year for the same period.
For the week ending on April 7 this year, the stock was at 37.92 BCM or 24 percent, or of their total storage capacity.
The estimated water storage capacity of all reservoirs (small, medium and major ones) in the country is 253.88 BCM.
Out of the total number of major reservoirs, 37 have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW.
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