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Water storage in major reservoirs down 43% y-o-y

The water storage levels in major reservoirs of India declined by 43% as on June 16, 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 June 16, 2016 stood at 23.79 billion cubic metre (BCM), down 43% from the corresponding period last year

The storage level stood at 26.82BCM as on May 31, 2016.

The storage level is also 20% down from the average storage level of 29.73 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 15% 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 4.12BCM, which is 42% of the level seen in the corresponding period of last year and 29% of the average storage of the last 10 years too. As on May 31, 2016 the storage level was 3.91 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 3.25 BCM, which is 28% of the level seen in the corresponding period last year. It was also 16% of the average storage of the last 10 years. The storage level on May 31 was 4.42 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 2.96 BCM, which is 20% of the corresponding period of last year. It was also 21% of the average storage of last 10 years. The level stood at 3.25 BCM on May 31.

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

Central region

In the central region, the water storage stood at 8.59 BCM, which is 30% of the level seen in the corresponding period of last year. It was also 14% 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 13.58 BCM on May 31.

Southern region

Water storage at the southern region stood at 4.86 BCM, which is 22% of the level seen in the corresponding period last year. It was also 19% 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 5.21 BCM on May 31.

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

All the reservoirs in Himachal Pradesh, AP&TG (Two combined projects in both states), Punjab, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were having lower storage levels as on June 16, 2016 compared to previous year’s same day’s level.