Reservoir storage across the country rose to about 68% of capacity on Thursday from over 64% a week ago, helped by a revival in monsoon rains.
However, the levels in all 166 major dams was 18% below year-ago levels and 3.74% below the 10-year average, according to the Central Water Commission’s weekly bulletin.
Water levels in 47 major dams in southern India stood at 57.34% of combined capacity, marginally up from 56.22% a week ago. However, levels were over 28% below last year and about 13% below the 10-year average.
Storage in 11 major dams in northern India was 30% below last year and 14% below the 10-year average. Lower storage in the northern and southern regions has been attributed to deficient monsoon rainfall.
Overall monsoon rainfall was 13% below normal as of Thursday. Central India, the rainfed monsoon core zone, was the only region with near-normal rainfall, at 2.1% below the benchmark.
Other regions recorded significant deficits: northwest India (-10.3%), east and northeast India (-27%) and south peninsular India (-22.4%).
Only 45, or 27%, of the 166 dams had more water than a year ago, while 82, or 50%, held more water than the 10-year average. Storage in 53 major dams in the western region, covering Goa, Gujarat and Maharashtra, was above 80% of combined capacity, supported by adequate rainfall in central India.