Water level in 91 reservoirs rises to 61 pc of total capacity

Water level in 91 major reservoirs in the country has increased to 61 per cent of their total capacity, the government said on Friday.

According to the Union Water Resources Ministry, 71.556 billion cubic metre (BCM) of water was available in these reservoirs for the week ending on August 18.

The stock is in excess of levels reported during corresponding period last year by nine percent. It is also 101 per cent of the average of storage in last 10 years.

The total capacity of these reservoirs is 157.799 BCM.

Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have reported lower levels of water in major reservoirs compared to last year.

Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh have reported same level of storage as previous year.

Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka have reported better storage vis-a-vis last year.

The estimated water storage capacity of all reservoirs in the country is 253.388 BCM. Thirty-seven of the major reservoirs have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW.