Monsoon Delay Drying Up India's Water Reservoirs Quickly, 80% Have Below Normal Storage

Whatever you are doing, stop that and start praying for rains right now. India needs water and at the moment it has very little to sustain. There are no signs of monsoon rains in many parts of the country and MeT department data shows that 84 per cent of the meteorological subdivisions have recorded deficient rainfall.

The Central Water Commission has suggested that out of 91 major reservoirs in the country, 80 per cent have storage below normal. Of these, 11 have zero per cent storage, making the water crisis acute.

AFP

Monsoon season generally stays between June 1 and September 30, but the overall monsoon deficiency until June 22 still remains around 39 per cent.

According to a PTI report, 25 per cent of the 36 meteorological subdivisions have recorded ¡°deficient¡± rainfall, while six subdivisions recorded precipitation classified under the ¡°large deficient¡± category.

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Odisha and Lakhadweep subdivisions have recorded ¡°normal¡± rainfall. While Jammu Kashmir and East Rajasthan recorded ¡°excess¡± rainfall, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands registered rainfall under the ¡°large excess¡± category.

The India Meteorological Department has four divisions ¨C east and the north east, south peninsula, central India and northwest India.

BCCL

The east and northeast India division comprise northeastern states and eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal and all have registered deficient rainfall.

Of the 10 subdivisions of central India, Odisha is the only one to receive normal rainfall.

Four subdivisions, including three from the Maharashtra ¨C Vidarbha, Marathwada and central Maharashtra ¨C have recorded rainfall in the category of ¡°large deficient¡±. The east Madhya Pradesh subdivision has also recorded rainfall in the same category.

Vidarbha, Marathwada and central Maharashtra subdivisions have been facing a drought-like situation, with water levels in reservoirs reaching extremely low levels.

BCCL

Although the Gujarat and Saurashtra and the Kutch subdivisions under central India have recorded ¡°deficient¡± rainfall, Cyclone Vayu helped bring down some of the shortfall.

The deficiency in these two subdivisions was 100 per cent until June 9, but it went down to 50 and 26 per cent respectively.

Of ten divisions in the south peninsula division, eight are deficient. The Andaman and Nicobar Island subdivision recorded ¡°large excess¡± rainfall, the only one under this category in the country, while Lakshadweep recorded ¡°normal¡± rainfall.

BCCL

With Chennai reeling under a severe water crisis, the Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal subdivision has a deficiency of nearly 38 per cent.

Inputs from PTI