Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: Delayed and weak southwest monsoon has set alarm bells ringing in the government as major reservoirs in the country are facing depletion in water levels.
As per a newspaper report, the overall water level is at 57 per cent of last year’s storage. The situation has prompted the Centre to issue an advisory to the States to be judicious in release of waters and to give preference to drinking water and irrigation needs.
In the 84 major reservoirs monitored by the Central Water Commission, as against the storage capacity of 154.421 billion cubic metres (BCM), the average storage till July 5 was only 25.191 BCM, The Hindu report said.
The worst-hit basins are said to be the Godavari, Krishna, Indus, Cauvery and the west flowing rivers of the south.
Importantly, the Indian Metrological Department (IMD) has maintained that the monsoon will pick up in the remaining days of July and in August.
However, the newspaper, quoted top officials saying there was a serious concern over the spread and intensity of rain and apprehension that the monsoon might remain weak in parts of the country.
Already, there are reports of damage to the kharif crop in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The storage is lower by 37 to 45 per cent than normal in the Thein, Bhakra and Pong dams in Punjab, while the 15 reservoirs in Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal are filled only up to 40 percent or below.
Reservoirs in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala face storages of 39, 59, 18, 4 and 45 percents respectively.
