Reservoirs running dry,half of last years levels

Water levels in 81 crucial reservoirs are at just 44 per cent of last years levels at this time,and at 65 per cent....

Water levels in 81 crucial reservoirs are at just 44 per cent of last years levels at this time,and at 65 per cent of the average of the last 10 years,shows government data released Friday for the week ending June 25.

The Krishnaraja Sagar reservoir in Karnataka has practically no water it is shown as having 0% of its capacity and the Tungabhadra (also in Karnataka),Tehri (Uttarakhand) and Pong dam (Himachal) reservoirs have only 6 per cent,1 per cent and 5 per cent of their capacities. At this time last year,thanks to an early monsoon,the Krishnaraja Sagar was 41 per cent full,and Tungabhadra,Tehri and Pong were at 17 per cent,15 per cent and 22 per cent of capacity levels.

The overall picture is grim: as many as 21 of the 81 reservoirs are just 5 per cent or less full. The total live storage as of date is 14.184 billion cubic metres (BCM) just 9 per cent of the capacity at full reservoir levels (FRL). This is substantially lower than last years 21 per cent,and even the 10-year average of 14 per cent.

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Thirteen reservoirs have no live storage; last year,there were just two such reservoirs. Another 27 reservoirs are at less than half of the average storage for the past decade.

Even rivers are running dry. Water levels in the Ganga,Indus,Narmada,Sabarmati,Godavari and rivers of the Kutch were all at levels of 10 per cent or less of their full capacity. Overall,water storage in the 12 major river basin regions across the country stood at 9.3 per cent of full capacity less than half of last year.

The delayed monsoon has affected the area under the kharif crop it is down by about 7 lakh hectares from the 25.20 lakh hectares sown at this time last year. The decline is mostly due to reduction the area under paddy in West Bengal,Andhra Pradesh,Orissa,Punjab,Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

The weather watch group of the Agriculture Ministry mulled over these figures on Friday. Later,Agriculture Secretary T Nanda Kumar briefed the Cabinet Secretary about the progress of kharif sowing,and his Thursday meeting with state representatives,it is learnt. Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is meeting top officials on Sunday after his return from London.

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