Water level in reservoirs shrinks further to 27% of storage capacity

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CRISIL Market Intelligence and Analytics. “In the case of Kharif crops, CRISIL expects paddy and pulses acreages may revive to normal if the southwest monsoon is above normal. However, timely onset, spatial, and temporal distribution of rainfall remains a key aspect to monitor.

Pulse crops have a comparatively limited sowing window beyond which, it gets difficult for the crop to establish, therefore, if the southwest monsoon begins on time, pulse acreages may significantly improve which may stabilize the pulse prices in the medium term. Also read | The acreage under maize and oilseeds may witness a decline if the rainfall is higher as a crop shift towards more remunerative crops like paddy and pulses is expected. Cash crops like sugarcane, cotton, and jute acreages are likely to fall owing to an expected hot summer when typically, the sowing starts for these crops," Sharma added.

The situation in southern regions is worrying as the storage in the 42 reservoirs dropped to 15% of the 53.334 BCM capacity at 7.921 BCM. During the same period a year ago, the level was 27% of the capacity and 21% of the 10 year average, as per the CWC’s latest bulletin issued on Thursday. As far as the eastern region is concerned, the water level in 23 reservoirs across Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, Nagaland and Bihar fell further to 6.952 BCM, 34% of total live storage capacity of 20.430 BCM, while that of 49 reservoirs in the western region was down to 10.339 BCM, 28% of total live storage capacity of f 37.130 BCM.