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Water storage in major reservoirs down 31% y-o-y

The water storage levels in major reservoirs of India has declined by 31% as on March 31, 2016 compared to last year, an official release said.

The water storage levels at major Indian reservoirs generally starts reducing after monsoon that normally ends in September and continues to slide till May of next year.

The water availability in the major 91 reservoirs, monitored by the Central Waterways Commission (CWC), for the week ending on March 31, 2016 stood at 39.65 billion cubic metre (BCM), down 31% from 57.46 BCM recorded in the corresponding period last year

The storage level stood at 43.39 BCM as on March 17, 2016.

The storage level is also 26% down from the average storage level of 58.64 BCM seen over the same period for the last 10 years.

The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 157.79 BCM and currently only 25% is filled. As many as 37 reservoirs, out of these 91, have hydropower generation facilities with installed capacity of more than 60 MW.

Northern region

Water storage in the northern region stood at 4.48 BCM, which is 32% of the level seen in the corresponding period of last year and 32% of the average storage of the last 10 years too. As on March 17, 2015, it stood at 4.71 BCM.

There are 6 reservoirs in this region spread over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan.

Eastern Region

In the eastern region, the water storage stood at 7.15 BCM, which is 49% of the level seen in the corresponding period last year. It was also 42% of the average storage of the last 10 years. The storage level on March 17 was 7.82 BCM.

There are 15 reservoirs in this region spread over Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura.

Western region

Water storage in the reservoirs of western region stood at 5.82 BCM, which is 40% of the corresponding period of last year. It was also 44% of the average storage of last 10 years. The level stood at 6.52 BCM on March 17.

There are 27 reservoirs in this region spread over Gujarat and Maharashtra.

Central region

In the central region, the water storage stood at 13.58 BCM, which is 42% of the level seen in the corresponding period of last year. It was also 30% from the average storage of the last ten years.

The water storage in 12 reservoirs in this region spread over Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh stood at 14.51 BCM on March 17.

Southern region

Water storage at the southern region stood at 8.62 BCM, which is 26% of the level seen in the corresponding period last year. It was also 29% of the average storage of the last ten years.

The storage level in 31 reservoirs in this region spread over Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu was 9.83 BCM on March 17.

The release further said that water storage level was higher than last year’s levels in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Tripura, but was almost equal to previous year’s levels in West Bengal.

All the reservoirs in Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh & Telengana (Two combined project in both states), Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala were having lower storage levels as on March 31 compared to previous year’s same day’s level.