As monsoon picks up, water storage improves in major Indian reservoirs

Heavy rains in different parts of India have substantially increased the inflow to several reservoirs in the last one week, according to the Central Water Commission (CWC).

A bulletin released July 12, 2022, by CWC, found that the country’s 143 reservoirs monitored by the body had total live storage capacity of 71.108 BCM (billion cubic meters). This amounts to 40 per cent of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

The recent increase is a marked improvement from the 30 per cent recorded July 7 this year. The water levels had been on the decline since the monsoon started in June due to erratic rains. 

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The number of reservoirs with 40 per cent or less water has also reduced — from 91 such reservoirs last week to 66 as of July 14.

However, there are still nine states with less storage than the normal level (which is the average of the last 10 years).

These are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, Nagaland, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. The highest departure was observed in Himachal Pradesh and Bihar at 40 per cent less storage than normal.

They are followed by Jharkhand (31 per cent), Odisha (28 per cent) and Punjab (27 per cent).

According to data by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), eight states have deficient rainfall and one state has a large deficiency, even as the southwest monsoon has covered the entire country.

Out of 46 reservoirs with significant hydropower generation, the storage build up is less than or equal to normal in 19 reservoirs.

The storage position in southern and central states increased substantially in the last one week and was better compared to the rest of the country.

The 40 reservoirs in the five states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu had 55 per cent storage compared to their capacity.

This was 40 per cent on July 7. Similarly, storage in 46 reservoirs of Gujarat and Maharashtra has improved from 26 per cent to 43 per cent this week, as heavy rainfall continued in western India.

The eastern region had the lowest storage at 20 per cent, followed by the northern region at 26 per cent and the central region at 36 per cent.