The water level in India’s 155 major reservoirs dropped for the 10th week in a row with over 90 per cent of the districts in the country receiving scanty or no rainfall since January 1. 

Data from the Central Water Commission (CWC) showed that the storage was 71 per cent or  127.921 billion cubic metres (BCM) of the 180.852 BCM capacity. The level is higher than last year and the average of last 10 years (normal).

The storage has been declining since November 14, 2024. One of the concerns currently is the level in Punjab’s lone reservoir dropping to nearly 20 per cent of the capacity. 

No rains in 89% of districts

Data received by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) from 719 districts showed that 89 per cent of them received no rainfall, seven per cent received largely deficient and three per cent deficient rainfall.

In the 11 reservoirs of the northern region, the storage dropped to 42 per cent of the 19.836 BCM capacity at 8.377 BCM. Besides Punjab, the level in Himachal was 35 per cent and Rajasthan 71 per cent of the capacity.

In the 25 reservoirs of the Eastern region, the storage was 67.01 per cent of the 20.798 BCM at 13.936 BCM. Tripura had a good storage of 82 per cent of the capacity, while in Bihar’s lone reservoir, the level was 27 per cent. The storage in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha was over 65 per cent each.

Of the 50 reservoirs in the western region, the storage was 81 per cent of 30.382 BCM of the 37.357 BCM  Goa’s lone reservoir was filled to 98 per cent of the capacity, while the level in Maharashtra and Gujarat was 84 per cent and 78 per cent, respectively.

IMD forecast for Jan

In the Central region, the level in the 26 reservoirs was 74 per cent of the 48.227 BCM capacity at 35.535 BCM. Madhya Pradesh’s reservoirs were filled to 78 per cent of capacity, while in Uttarakhand it was 70 per cent. In Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the level was above 60 per cent. 

The storage in the 43 reservoirs of the southern region was 73 per cent of the 54.634 BCM capacity at 39.691 BCM. Tamil Nadu reservoirs were filled to 92 per cent of the capacity, while the level in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh was 86 per cent and 80 per cent, respectively. In Kerala, the storage was 72 per cent and in Karnataka, it was 73 per cent.

With the IMD predicting above-normal rainfall in January and projection of rains from January 11, the drop in the reservoirs level will likely slow down.