Water storage levels in 85 dams less compared to last year

The water storage levels in 85 important reservoirs in the country, which is monitored by the Central Water Commission (CWC), is less when compared with the corresponding period of last year.
Of the 91 important reservoirs monitored by CWC, the water storage level in six important reservoirs located in northern region is better when compared with the corresponding period of last year as on September 17.
According to a Ministry of Water Resources statement here, there are 15 reservoirs under CWC monitoring in the eastern region - Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura.
The total storage available in these reservoirs is 11.35 BCM, which is 60 per cent of total storage capacity of these reservoirs.

"The storage during corresponding period of last year was 77 per cent and average storage of last 10 years during corresponding period was 73 per cent of 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 10 years during the corresponding period," the statement said.
As far as the water storage levels in western and southern regions, comprising 27 and 31 important reservoirs respectively, whose water levels are monitored by CWC, the storage during the current year is less than the storage of last year and is also less than the average storage of last 10 years.

While the storage level in 12 important reservoirs located in the central region comprising - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh is less when compared with the corresponding period of last year, it is better than the average storage of last 10 years.

The water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country as on September 17 was 92.631 BCM, which is 59 per cent of total storage capacity of these reservoirs.
"This storage is 74 per cent of the storage of corresponding period of last year and 77 per cent of storage of average of last ten years," it said.

The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 157.799 BCM which is about 62 per cent of the total storage capacity of 253.388 BCM, which is estimated to have been created in the country.
States having lesser storage than last year for corresponding period are Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, (Two combined project in both states) Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Only Himachal Pradesh and Tripura have better storage than last year for corresponding period.