South India, comprising states like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, faces an imminent water crisis as reservoir levels plummet to a mere 17% of their total capacity, according to the latest bulletin from the Central Water Commission (CWC).
Alarming Reservoir Levels
The bulletin reports that 42 reservoirs under CWC monitoring in the southern region, with a total live storage capacity of 53.334 BCM, currently hold only 8.865 BCM. This represents a significant decline compared to levels recorded during the same period last year (29%) and the ten-year average (23%).
Escalating Challenges
The drastic decline in reservoir levels poses serious challenges for irrigation, drinking water supply, and hydroelectric power generation in the affected states, exacerbating concerns over water scarcity.
Eastern Region Witnesses Improvement
In contrast, the eastern region, including states like Assam, Odisha, and West Bengal, has seen a positive uptick in water storage levels. Of the 23 monitored reservoirs in this region, with a total live storage capacity of 20.430 BCM, the current storage stands at 7.889 BCM, representing 39% of their total capacity.
Concerns Across Other Regions
However, the western region, comprising Gujarat and Maharashtra, reports lower storage levels at 31.7% of the total capacity across 49 monitored reservoirs. Similar declines are observed in the northern and central regions, further exacerbating concerns over water availability and management.
Categorization of Reservoir Storage
The bulletin categorizes reservoir storage across various river basins as “better than normal,” “close to normal,” “deficient,” or “highly deficient.” River basins like 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.
