Water levels in reservoirs at 35% of capacity; southern India’s at just 20%

Water storage in major reservoirs and river basins across the country continues to decline, with many reaching dangerously low levels, despite the fact that peak summer has yet to arrive. Data released by the Central Water Commission (CWC) on April 4, 2024 revealed this concerning trend.

The situation raises alarms for potential drinking water shortages as well as low water availability for agriculture in the coming weeks and months. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have been grappling with water shortages, primarily due to deficient rainfall during last year’s monsoon season.

Currently, the live storage available in India’s 150 major reservoirs, monitored by the CWC, stands at 61.801 billion cubic metres (BCM). This accounts for just 35 per cent of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. This storage level is lower than that of the corresponding period last year nationwide and also falls below the average storage of the last 10 years during the corresponding period.

The storage has been continuously and sharply decreasing. Last week, it stood at 64.606 BCM, and the week prior to that, it was 67.591 BCM.

Meanwhile, 13 east-flowing rivers between the Mahanadi and Pennar basins have remained devoid of water for the third consecutive week. Additionally, in major river basins like Pennar and Cauvery, the water levels are categorised as ‘highly deficient’ and ‘deficient’, respectively. In the Pennar basin, water levels have decreased from 3.71 per cent to 2.56 per cent compared to last week, while in the Cauvery basin, they have dropped from 23 per cent to 21 per cent during the same period.

Regarding the 42 reservoirs in the southern region monitored by the CWC, they were only filled to 20 per cent of their capacity. These reservoirs are located in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The storage during the corresponding period last year was 34 per cent and the average storage of the last 10 years during the corresponding period was 28 per cent of the live storage capacity of these 42 reservoirs.

Water levels in the northern, eastern, western and central regions were 32 per cent, 45.24 per cent, 40 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively.

Major dams like Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam (both in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana), Tungabhadra and Ghataprabha (in Karnataka) have seen water levels dwindling. These dams provide irrigation water to farmers, are drinking water sources and also generate electricity. In Nagarjuna Sagar across the Krishna river, current live storage is just 0.111 BCM, which is only 2 per cent of its live capacity.

Out of 21 states that the CWC monitors reservoirs in, at least 13 had water levels less than the ‘normal’ storage. These were: Punjab, Rajasthan, Odisha, West Bengal, Nagaland, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

‘Normal’ storage means average storage of last 10 years.

River basin storage position has also shown a declining trend. At least 13 rivers — Rushikulya, Bahuda, Vamsadhara, Nagavali, Sarada, Varaha, Tandava, Eluru, Gundlakamma, Tammileru, Musi, Paleru, and Munneru — have had no water since March 21, according to CWC data.

These rivers flow through an area of 86,643 square kilometres, with agricultural land covering approximately 60 per cent of the total area.

Declining water levels were observed in all river basins like Ganga, Godavari, Mahanadi, Tapi, Narmada, Mahi, Krishna and Brahmaputra, with the exception of Indus.

The present water level situation is alarming at a time when India Meteorological Department has warned that most of India may suffer from above normal day-time and night-time temperatures along with heatwaves in the summer season of April-May-June.