Water Crisis Looms As India's Reservoirs At 38% Capacity Ahead Of Summer

Ahead of the summer season, India's 150 primary reservoirs are at just 38% of their total capacity, below the last decade's average. Bengaluru faces a shortfall of 500 million litres per day (MLD) out of a demand of 2,600 MLD.

Karnataka, among other states, has lower storage levels compared to last year. Bengaluru has 14,000 borewells, with 6,900 dried up. The city needs 2,600 MLD, sourcing 1,470 MLD from the Cauvery River and 650 MLD from borewells.

States like Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu also report lower storage levels.

The total live storage capacity of these reservoirs is 178.784 BCM, accounting for about 69.35% of the nation's total live storage capacity of 257.812 BCM. As of the latest bulletin, the live storage available is 67.591 BCM, representing 38% of their total live storage capacity.

The current live storage amounts to 84% of last year's storage and 93% of the average storage over the past decade. The overall storage in the country is lower than last year and the average over the past ten years.

The Southern region, which includes states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, monitors 42 reservoirs with a total live storage capacity of 53.334 BCM. The current storage levels in the Southern region are lower than those observed during the same period last year and fall below the average storage over the past ten years.