Water levels in the country’s 150 major reservoirs fell sharply to 23% below the previous year’s level, due to deficient monsoon last season, scanty rainfall in winter months and prolonged heat waves in several parts of the country in the last two months.
This is the 34th week in a row that the water levels have declined. According to the Central Water Commission (CWC)’s weekly bulletin on Thursday, water levels are 6% below last 10-year average. The reservoir’s capacity is filled up to only 23%.
The water storage in 140 of the reservoirs this week was below 50% of the capacity. Of these reservoirs, 20 have hydro-electric potential which is likely to be hit because of lower water levels.
However, with the southwest monsoon setting in over Kerala and north-eastern States on Thursday, the water levels in reservoirs is likely to improve over the next few weeks.
As many as 42 of them in southern states currently have only 14% capacity filled, as per the CWC. Of these, 5 have gone dry. The region had the lowest storage, though it remained at 14% of capacity for the third consecutive week, mainly because of adequate pre-monsoon showers in the last couple of weeks in Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The 23 reservoirs in the east, however, hold around 3% more water than last year and 2% higher water than the last ten years average. In the 49 dams in Gujarat and Maharashtra, hold 4% less water than last year while the reservoirs’s capacity is filled upto 24% only.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had earlier announced that Mumbai would witness a 5% water cut starting from Thursday and the cut would be further increased to 10% from June 5 as a precautionary measure.
Ten key dams in the northern region is filled upto 30% of their capacities, a 8% decline from the previous year.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday said conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of Lakshadweep, Kerala, Karnataka and some more parts of Tamil Nadu during next 2-3 days. This is expected to boost depleted water tables in the reservoirs.
IMD earlier this week reiterated its April forecast of ‘above normal’ monsoon rainfall at 106% of benchmark average during June-September this year with 92% chances of the rains being in the “normal-to-excess” range.
The met department said that prevailing heat wave conditions over Northwest, Central & East India are likely to abate gradually during the next 2-3 days.