Water stock in major reservoirs down by 2 pc: Water resources min

The water level in 91 major reservoirs across the country has plunged to 37 per cent of their total capacity from 39 per cent last week, the Union Water Resources Ministry said today.
As of February 22, there was 60.665 billion cubic metres (BCM) of water available in these reservoirs. The stock was 63.597 BCM on February 15, the ministry said in a statement.
The latest levels in the reservoirs are 88 per cent of the storage reported in the corresponding period last year, the statement said. It is also 91 per cent of the decadal average of the storage.

Reservoirs in states such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have reported lower water levels than last year.
Major dams in Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu have reported better storage levels vis-a-vis the corresponding period last year.
The total storage capacity of all the major reservoirs is 161.993 BCM, which is about 63 per cent of the total storage capacity of 257.812 BCM estimated to have been created in the country.
Of the total major reservoirs, 37 have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW.