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Even as summer is yet to peak across the country, over 40 rivers in India’s second most populous state have already dried, according to officials of the Bihar Water Resources Department (WRD).
The volume of water in other rivers has been decreasing fast. The precious liquid is visible only in certain parts of some of the state’s big rivers, they added.
Water is also vanishing from other sources in the state such as reservoirs and canals. Groundwater levels are also dipping.
A senior official of WRD said on April 8 that most reservoirs in Bihar are facing water shortages. “Some reservoirs which have dried up, have reached dead storage levels (DSL). This is a bad sign because it is of no use for irrigation,” the official told this reporter.
According to a report by the WRD, none of the state’s reservoirs has 50 per cent water. Only the Durgavati reservoir in Kaimur district has 47 per cent water.
Drying reservoirs in the districts of Banka, Nawada, Aurangabad, Kaimur, Rohtas, Bhagalpur, Munger, Lakhisarai and Jamui mean that farmers and livestock owners, who are fully dependent on the water stored in them, have been having a trying time.
“As of now, 5 of 23 reservoirs in Bihar have dried up and 16 reservoirs have less than 10 per cent water. More than 40 rivers have no water. It has decreased drastically in other rivers. There are reports of hand pumps running dry due to plummeting groundwater levels. All this will affect the availability of water in the coming days,” the official said.
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Officials from the state Disaster Management Department (DMD) said reservoirs are drying out due to the deficiency of rainfall. Most reservoirs are rain-fed. Water will increase in reservoirs only in the monsoon, which is more than two months away.
Local Hindi dailies are reporting a drinking water crisis in several drought-prone districts, where tankers are being used by authorities to supply water.
According to data from the Bihar Economic Survey (2022-23), groundwater levels were at least 10 metres (m) below ground in districts like Aurangabad, Nawada, Kaimur and Jamui during the pre-monsoon period in 2021.
The pre-monsoon groundwater level in Aurangabad was 10.59 m in 2020. But it dipped to 10.97 m in 2021. A similar situation was reported in other districts.
Narayanji Choudhary, a water activist in Darbhanga, said a water crisis is a reality even in the flood-prone districts of north Bihar. “In Darbhanga, local authorities have been using water tankers in May and June to provide water to people,” said Choudhary.
He added that the crisis of water scarcity was due to depletion of groundwater. Over exploitation of groundwater for irrigation and drinking purposes has resulted in levels dipping.
However, the issue of water crisis is missing in the ongoing Lok Sabha election campaign in the state. None of the main contenders — the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance and the Rashtriya Janata Dal-led Mahagathbandhan are silent on the subject.