Experts say timely pre-monsoon rainfall needed to boost water level

NEW DELHI: India's major reservoirs had water only up to a fifth of their capacity this week, lower than a year earlier as well as the 10-year average. Experts said the situation is worrisome, but it can change if pre-monsoon rainfall is on time.

The 91 key reservoirs held 34.082 billion cubic metres of water as of April 21, compared to 52.178 bcm a year earlier and the 10-year average of 45.08 bcm. These reservoirs have a combined capacity of 157.799 bcm and get 80-85% of their water during the June-September monsoon season.

India has total capacity to store 253.388 bcm of water.

The Central Water Commission, which monitors water level in major reservoirs across the country, has said that the most deficient river basin is the Krishna, which caters to Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. The Indus, Tapi, Mahi and Cauvery river basins have deficient water. However, Kutch, Mahanadi, Ganga, Sabarmati and Narmada rivers have normal water in the basin.

For the past five weeks, reservoirs from Nagarjuna Sagar, Bhima (Ujjani), Jayakwadi and Girna have had no water. The Yeldari reservoir had 1% water of the normal storage while in Salanadi and Lower Bhawani reservoirs it was 13% of the normal storage.

The situation was much better in Vanvillas Sagar and Mettur reservoirs, with the water level at half of the normal capacity, CWC said.

The CWC has issued an advisory for state governments on judicious use of water for irrigation, drinking and industrial purposes.

The government has launched a number of projects to augment water storage capacity. Currently, 80 projects are underway, of which 40 projects are likely to be completed by next year and help irrigate an additional 8 million hectares.