Storage Status of 91 Major Reservoirs of the Country as on March 10, 2016 The water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country for the week ending on March 10, 2016 was 45.801 BCM which is 29% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This was 71% of the storage of corresponding period of last year and 74% of storage of average of last ten years. The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 157.799 BCM which is about 62% of the total storage capacity of 253.388 BCM which is estimated to have been created in the country. 37 Reservoirs out of these 91, have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW. In order to derive the best possible benefits from the available water, Central Water Commission is keeping in touch with the department of Agriculture and Co-operation and providing information of the weekly storage position to the Crop Weather Watch Group for evolving suitable crop strategies and also appraising the situation to various Department and Ministries involved in Water Resources Planning. Keeping in view the IMD forecast for below average rainfall during monsoon 2015, an advisory for judicious use of available storage was also issued to all State Government on June 2, 2015. States have also been requested to prepare district wise contingency plan against each reservoir to handle the likely drought situation, especially ensuring drinking water for population and animals for the entire year 2015-16. REGION WISE STORAGE STATUS:- NORTHERN REGION The northern region includes States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. There are 6 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 18.01 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 4.89 BCM which is 27% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 32% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 34% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the corresponding period of last year and is also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period. EASTERN REGION The Eastern region includes States of Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura. There are 15 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 18.83 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 8.27 BCM which is 44% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 56% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 50% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the corresponding period of last year and is also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period. WESTERN REGION The Western region includes States of Gujarat and Maharashtra. There are 27 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 27.07 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 6.97 BCM which is 26% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 45% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 50% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the storage of last year and is also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period. CENTRAL REGION The Central region includes States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. There are 12 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 42.30 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 15.30 BCM which is 36% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 46% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 34% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the storage of last year but is better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period. SOUTHERN REGION The Southern region includes States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, AP&TG (Two combined projects in both states) Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. There are 31 reservoirs under CWC monitoring having total live storage capacity of 51.59 BCM. The total live storage available in these reservoirs is 10.37 BCM which is 20% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 32% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 36% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the corresponding period of last year and is also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period. States having better storage than last year for corresponding period are Andhra Pradesh and Tripura. States having equal storage than last year for corresponding period is West Bengal. States having lesser storage than last year for corresponding period are Himachal Pradesh, AP&TG (Two combined project in both states), Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Samir/jk
