Water in 150 main reservoirs dips to 20% storage capacity: CWC

New Delhi: Water available in the 150 main reservoirs across the country has dipped to just 20 per cent of their total live storage capacity, according to the Central Water Commission.

For the past two weeks, the reservoirs were at 21 per cent of their total live storage capacity and the week before that it was 22 per cent.

According to the latest CWC bulletin, the total live storage available is 36.368 billion cubic meters (BCM) which is just 20 per cent of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. This is a significant decrease from 46.369 billion cubic meters (BCM) recorded during the same period last year and also below the normal storage of 42.645 BCM.

The total live storage capacity of these reservoirs is 178.784 BCM, which is about 69.35 per cent of the estimated total live storage capacity of 257.812 BCM in the country.

The northern region, comprising Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan, has a total live storage capacity of 19.663 BCM in 10 reservoirs. Currently, the storage level there is 5.239 BCM or 27 per cent of the capacity.

The eastern region, including Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, Nagaland, and Bihar has a total live storage capacity of 20.430 BCM in 23 reservoirs. The current storage level is 3.643 BCM or 17.83 per cent of the capacity, slightly less than the 17.84 per cent recorded last year.

The western region, comprising Gujarat and Maharashtra, has 49 reservoirs with a total live storage capacity of 37.130 BCM. However, the current storage is 7.471 BCM, or 20.12 per cent of

the capacity.