iGrain India - New Delhi. The latest data of Central Water Commission shows that water storage in 150 major dams and reservoirs of the country decreased for 34th consecutive week.
Water level in northern region increased by 2 percentage points while in four other divisions of the country, water storage fell below 30 percent as compared to the total storage capacity.
But now South-West monsoon has reached South India (Kerala) and its activity is also increasing in the North-East region of the country, therefore, there are chances of improvement in water level in dams and reservoirs soon with the help of good rains.
In the next two weeks, this monsoon will reach many states of the country, which include Karnataka, Tamil Nadu (NS:TNNP), Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Bihar etc.
This will facilitate the farmers in sowing Kharif crops. It is known that sowing of Kharif crops starts with the first shower of monsoon.
According to the Central Water Commission, out of 150 major dams and reservoirs in the country, 140 have water stock less than 50 percent of the total storage capacity.
During the current week, Rangawan reservoir of Uttar Pradesh dried up and with this the number of completely dried up reservoirs across the country increased to eight. Out of these, 5 reservoirs are in South India.
The total storage capacity of water in 150 major dams and reservoirs is 178.784 billion cubic meters (BCM) whereas the total stock of water in them is only 23 percent or 41.705 BCM. Last year, 77 percent water was available in these reservoirs.
The situation is the worst in South India. There, the water stock in the reservoirs has remained stable at 14 percent for the last three weeks.
The situation improved due to good pre-monsoon rains in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, otherwise the water stock could have decreased even more.
Only 7.317 BCM water stock is left in total 42 dams and reservoirs of South India which is merely 14 percent of the total storage capacity of 53,3034 BCM.