Water level increases in major reservoirs

The water level in 91 major reservoirs in the country has risen to 79.925 billion cubic metres (BCM) or 51 per cent of their total storage capacity from 48 per cent a week ago, the government said on Thursday. As on August 17, the stock was 75.694 BCM of the total storage capacity of the dams. The water level in the reservoirs, including in the Nagarjuna Sagar, Indira Sagar and Bhakra dams, was 78 per cent of the storage reported during the corresponding period last year, the Union Water Resources Ministry said in a statement. It was 81 per cent of the decadal average for the corresponding span, it said. Reservoirs in states such as Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Odisha, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu reported lesser storage level than last year. Major dams in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal and Tripura recorded better storage levels vis-à-vis the previous years.