How sub-normal rains may affect reservoir levels
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories.Low rainfall may hit India’s water reservoir replenishment, raising concerns among farmers and policymakers. Water reservoir levels stand at 44.7% of total capacity as of 9 April, better than last year, but experts warn that weak rainfall could hurt irrigation, fuelling worries over farm output and inflation in Asia’s third-largest economy. Mint explores.As per the Central Water Commission(CWC), water level in 166 key reservoirs stands at 44.7% of total live capacity, higher than last year (38%) and above the normal benchmark of 35%.
The live storage capacity in these major reservoirs monitored by CWC is 183.565 billion cubic metres (BCM), or about 71.20% of the total capacity of 257.812 BCM of all the reservoirs in India. As on 9 April, the water available in these 166 reservoirs was 82.070 BCM. However, last year the live storage available in these reservoirs was 69.752 BCM and normal storage was 64.618 BCM.
Live capacity is the usable volume of water for irrigation, drinking, and hydropower. Normal storage is the average storage over the past 10 years.With 63.47 BCM, live storage capacity levels in all the major reservoirs in northern, eastern, western and central regions are better than last year. However, in the southern region, it has dipped to 18.59 BCM as compared to 19.35 BCM seen last year, according to CWC data.
The southern region comprises Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana and has 47 reservoirs under CWC monitoring. Also, compared to historical levels, storage in all regions except the eastern region exceeded their respective normal storage. The live storage in the eastern region was 42.2% compared to the normal storage of 42.8%.The IMD has
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