As mercury soars in May; major reservoirs hold 25 pct of total water storage

The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 161.993 BCM which is about 63% of the total storage capacity of 257.812 BCM which is estimated to have been created in the country.

The water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country for the week ending on May 02, 2019 was 40.592 BCM, which is 25% of the total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This percentage was at 26 for the week ending on April 25, 2019. The level of water storage in the week ending on May 02, 2019 was 115% of the storage of the corresponding period of last year and 104% of storage of average of the last ten years.

The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 161.993 BCM which is about 63% of the total storage capacity of 257.812 BCM which is estimated to have been created in the country. 37 Reservoirs out of these 91 have hydropower benefit with an installed capacity of more than 60 MW.

REGION WISE STORAGE STATUS:-

NORTHERN REGION

The northern region includes States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. There are six reservoirs under the Central Water Commission (CWC) monitoring having a total live storage capacity of 18.01 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 9.06 BCM which is 50% of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

The storage during the corresponding period of last year was 19% and the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period was 27% of the live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during the current year is better than the corresponding period of last year and is also better than the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period.

EASTERN REGION

The Eastern region includes States of Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura. There are 15 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having the total live storage capacity of 18.83 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 6.07 BCM which is 32% of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during the corresponding period of last year was 34% and the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period was 31% of the live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during the current year is less than the corresponding period of last year but is better than the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period.

WESTERN REGION

The Western region includes the States of Gujarat and Maharashtra. There are 27 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having the total live storage capacity of 31.26 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 5.22 BCM which is 17% of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during the corresponding period of last year was 23% and the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period was 26% of the live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during the current year is less than the storage of last year and is also less than the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period.

CENTRAL REGION

The Central region includes States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. There are 12 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having the total live storage capacity of 42.30 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 12.24 BCM which is 29% of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during the corresponding period of last year was 27% and the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period was 27% of the live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during the current year is better than the storage of last year and is also better than the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period.

SOUTHERN REGION

The Southern region includes States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, AP&TG (Two combined projects in both states), Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. There are 31 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having the total live storage capacity of 51.59 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 8.00 BCM which is 15% of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs.

The storage during the corresponding period of last year was 14% and average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period was 17% of the live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during the current year is better than the corresponding period of last year but is less than the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period.

States having better storage than last year for corresponding period are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. States having equal storage than last year for corresponding period are Odisha and AP&TG (Two combined projects in both states) Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. States having lesser storage than last year for corresponding period are Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Tripura, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala.

(With inputs from the government press release)