Country has 225 BCM water storage capacity, 64 BCM in process

New Delhi, Jun 27 (UNI) A capacity of 64 Billion Cubic Metre (BCM) water storage will be created in the country, in addition to the already existing 225 BCM storage.

Various state governments were planning to create an estimated storage of about 108 BCM in future, the Water Resources Ministry informed today.

A Pilot National Project for Repair, Renovation and Restoration of Water Bodies directly linked to Agriculture was launched by the Government of India in 2005 at an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore, with a view to restoring and augment storage capacity of water bodies and also to revive their lost irrigation potential.

Various schemes were taken up with the assistance of the World Bank in the states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, and proposals from West Bengal and Orissa were forwarded to the bank, an official release said.

The average annual precipitation is estimated as 4000 BCM in the country and the average annual water availability in the country was assessed at 1869 BCM after accounting for the natural process of evaporation.

Due to topographic, hydrological and other constraints, the utilisable water was 1123 BCM including 690 BCM of surface water and 433 BCM of replenishable ground water resources. Rest of the water is believed to flow down to sea.

UNI MCN PY BD1905