Southern India Faces Acute Water Shortage As Reservoir Levels Dips To 17%

Reservoir storage levels in southern India, covering Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, are currently at a mere 17% of capacity, well below historical averages, according to the latest bulletin from the Central Water Commission (CWC).

The bulletin, released late on Thursday, reveals that the 42 reservoirs monitored in the southern region have a total live storage capacity of 53.334 billion cubic meters (BCM). However, the combined live storage in these reservoirs is currently only 8.865 BCM, highlighting a significant deficit. This storage level is lower than both last year's level (29%) and the ten-year average (23%) for the same period.

The reduced storage levels are indicative of worsening water scarcity, posing challenges for irrigation, drinking water supply, and hydroelectric power generation in these states.

In contrast, the eastern region, including states like Assam, Odisha, and West Bengal, has shown a positive trend in water storage levels.

The bulletin reports that in this area, 23 monitored reservoirs with a total live storage capacity of 20.430 BCM currently hold 7.889 BCM of water, representing 39% of their total capacity. This marks an improvement compared to the storage levels at the same time last year (34%) and the ten-year average (34%). However, the situation is less favorable in other regions.

In the western region, comprising Gujarat and Maharashtra, the storage levels of 11.771 BCM account for 31.7% of the total capacity of 49 monitored reservoirs. This is notably lower than the storage levels of the previous year (38%) and the ten-year average (32.1%).

Similarly, the northern and central regions also show decreases in water storage levels compared to historical averages.

The bulletin provides a detailed analysis categorizing reservoir storage across different river basins as "above normal," "near normal," "below normal," or "critically low."

River basins such as Brahmaputra, Narmada, and Tapi are reported to have better-than-normal storage levels, while basins like Cauvery and east-flowing rivers between Mahanadi and Pennar are classified as highly deficient.