Water Level In 91 Major Reservoirs Across The Country Dips To 22 %

New Delhi: The water level in 91 major reservoirs across the country has dipped to 22 percent of their total capacity, Indian government said on Friday.

According to Union Water Resources Ministry, 34.082 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM) of water was available in these reservoirs for the week ending April 21. Their total capacity is 157.799 BCM. The levels are 35 percent less than the stock available in the corresponding period last year and 24 percent less than the 10-year average storage levels for the same period, the Ministry said.

Himachal Pradesh, Telangana, Punjab, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala have reported lower levels of water in major reservoirs compared to last year. Only two states, Andhra Pradesh and Tripura, have reported better storage vis-a-vis last year for the same period. West Bengal has reported same storage.

For the week ending on April 13, the stock was at 35.839 BCM or 23 percent of their total storage capacity. The estimated water storage capacity of all reservoirs in the country is 253.88 BCM. 37 major reservoirs have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW.

Meanwhile, there is a water emergency in Hyderabad, with four major reservoirs that supply drinking water to the capital city becoming dry for the first time in 30 years. Though the monsoon predictions this year are better than normal, The Metropolitan Water Board is gearing up to use emergency pumps to tap dead storage waters of Nagarjunasagar and Yellampally, the only available water sources for the city, beyond June 15 this year.