India's water storage capacity less than quantum of rainfall, says minister

The country's water storage capacity is less compared to the 4,000 billion cubic meters of water received through rainfall annually, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said on Thursday. The Jal Shakti Minister said the Central Water Commission (CWC) monitors the live storage status of 91 reservoirs on a weekly basis.

Citing the CWC's weekly bulletin dated June 27, 2019, he said live storage available in these reservoirs is 26.272 billion cubic meters, which is 86 percent of average live storage for the last 10 years. According to the minister, the CWC has conducted sedimentation assessment studies on 243 reservoirs through hydrographic survey and live storage capacity assessment studies of 126 reservoirs through remote sensing technique.

He told the Lok Sabha that 4,000 billion cubic meters of water is received annually through rainfall. However, storage capacity, whether it is storing surface water or replenishing ground water, is less compared to the water received through rainfall, he said.

Shekhawat noted that de-siltation of reservoirs to increase its storage capacity is primarily the responsibility of dam owners who are generally state governments or central/ state public sector undertakings. Usually, de-silting of large reservoirs is not techno-economically feasible, he added.