Southern India Water Crisis: Water storage levels slump to 17%, says Central Water Commission

The south India states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are facing a dire water crisis.  According to the Central Water Commission (CWC) the water storage levels in these states have slumped down to 17 percent of the reservoir capacity, falling down to historic lows.

CWC earlier reported that 42 reservoirs in the southern regions have a total live storage capacity of 53.334 BCM (billion cubic metres). Now, as per the latest data, these storage levels in these reservoirs are at 8.865 BCM, which is only 17 percent of their total capacity.

Reduced storage levels in South India point to increased water shortages and significant issues for agricultural, drinking water supply and hydroelectric power generation in these states.

In contrast, the eastern states of India, which includes Assam, Odisha and West Bengal, have seen a favourable increase in water storage levels compared to last year and the ten-year average.

CWC pointed out that in this region, 23 monitored reservoirs with a total storage capacity of 20.430 BCM currently hold 7.889 BCM of water which is about 39 percent of their total capacity. There is a noticeable improvement in comparison to what were the recorded levels last year. 

The situation however is not this positive in the remaining Indian regions. 

In the western region, which comprises Gujarat and Maharashtra,  CWC reported storage levels of 11.771 BCM, which is only 31.7 percent of the total capacity of 49 monitored reservoirs. This is lower by almost 7 points in comparison to the recorded levels last year. Similarly, the northern and central regions also show a decline in water storage levels compared to historical averages.