Most reservoirs in Tamil Nadu are nearly full, thanks to bountiful rains during the current North-East monsoon, while the level in the northern region dropped below 50 per cent of the capacity, data from the Central Water Commission (CWC) showed. The level has increased in Kerala too.
CWC’s weekly bulletin of the storage situation in the 155 major reservoirs in the country said the storage was 77 per cent of the 180.852 billion cubic metres (BCM) capacity at 139.392 BCM. The is one percentage point lower than last week but higher than last year and normal (last 10 years level).
Deficient rains in 64% of country
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), post-monsoon rainfall from October 1 to December 19 was deficient in 64 per cent of the 720 districts in the country. Of the 38 districts in Tamil Nadu, 27 have received excess rainfall under the influence of the North-East monsoon. The State, in particular, has received heavy rains over the past couple of weeks due to Cyclone Fengal and the successive low-pressure areas over the Bay of Bengal.
The CWC data showed that 13 reservoirs (down from 15 last week) are full, while the level in 18 reservoirs is below 40 per cent (unchanged from last week) of the capacity.
Though the storage in the northern region is lower than normal, it is unlikely to have any impact on rabi crops since the region is well served by irrigation canals. The area under rabi crops is up marginally by 0.4 per cent.
Kerala also gains
Though the level in 43 reservoirs of the southern region dropped to 80 per cent of the 54.634 BCM capacity at 43.956 BCM, it increased to 96 per cent in Tamil Nadu and to 77 per cent in Kerala. In Andhra Pradesh, the storage was unchanged at 83 per cent. Reservoirs in Telangana were filled to 98 per cent, while the level in Karnataka was 81per cent.
Of the 25 reservoirs in the eastern region, the level was 70.2 per cent of 20.798 BCM capacity at 14.604 BCM. Tripura (87 per cent), Jharkhand (75 per cent) and West Bengal (74 per cent) had good storage.
The level in 11 reservoirs of the northern region dropped to 49 per cent of the 19.836 BCM capacity at 9.752 BCM. The storage in Himachal was 452 per cent, in Punjab 25 per cent (unchanged from last week) and 79 per cent in Rajasthan.
IMD forecast
The 26 reservoirs in the central region were filled to 79 per cent or 38.037 BCM of the 48.227 BCM capacity. Madhya Pradesh continue to boast over 80 per cent storage, while it was 78 per cent in Uttarakhand, 64 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and 68 per cent in Chhattisgarh.
In the western region, the 50 reservoirs were filled to 88 per cent of the 37.357 BCM capacity at is 33.043 BCM. Goa storage continued to be full, while it was 86 per cent and 91 per cent in Gujarat and Maharashtra, respectively.
With the IMD forecasting rains under the influence of a low-pressure over the Bay of Bengal during the weekend, the storage will likely improve in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal.
