Reservoirs in India: Storage status

The Water Storage available in 85 important reservoirs of the country as on December 18, 2014 was 95.081 BCM which is 61% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This storage is 84% of the storage of corresponding period of last year and 98% of storage of average of last ten years. The present storage position during current year is less than the storage position of last year and also less than the storage of average of last ten years. Central Water Commission monitors live storage status of 85 important reservoirs of the country on weekly basis. These reservoirs include 37 reservoirs having hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW. The total storage capacity of these reservoirs is 155.046 BCM which is about 61% of the storage capacity of 253.388 BCM which is estimated to have been created in the country.

REGION WISE STORAGE STATUS:

NORTHERN REGION

The northern region includes States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. There are 6 reservoirs in this region having total storage capacity of 18.01 BCM. The total storage available in these reservoirs is 9.82 BCM which is 55% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 69% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 60% of storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the corresponding period of last year and also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

EASTERN REGION

The Eastern region includes States of Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Tripura. There are 15 reservoirs in this region having total storage capacity of 18.83 BCM. The total storage available in these reservoirs is 14.25 BCM which is 76% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 89% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 71% of storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the corresponding period of last year but better than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

WESTERN REGION

The Western region includes States of Gujarat and Maharashtra. There are 22 reservoirs in this region having total storage capacity of 24.54 BCM. The total storage available in these reservoirs is 15.02 BCM which is 61% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 78% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was70% of storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the storage of last year and also less than the average storage of last ten years.

CENTRAL REGION

The Central region includes States of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. There are 12 reservoirs in this region having total storage capacity of 42.30BCM. The total storage available in these reservoirs is 29.75 BCM which is 70% of total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 78% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 51% of storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the storage of last year but better than the average storage of last ten years.

SOUTHERN REGION

The Southern region includes States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. There are 30 reservoirs in this region having total storage capacity of 51.37 BCM. The total storage available in these reservoirs is 26.25 BCM which is 51% of total storage capacity of these reservoirs. The storage during corresponding period of last year was 61% and average storage of last ten years during corresponding period was 66% of storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, storage during current year is less than the corresponding period of last year and also less than the average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period.

States having better storage than last year for corresponding period are Karnataka Kerala and Tamil Nadu. States having lesser storage than last year for corresponding period are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh.