The Hindu Business Line : Water levels satisfactory in majority of reservoirs

Ample monsoon rains have ensured that water levels in 65 out of the country's 76 major reservoirs are ruling at 80 per cent or more of the normal storage position.

As per the Central Water Commission's latest data for the week ended August 4, the total live storage in the 76 monitored reservoirs, at 74.431 billion cubic metres (BCM), was 47 per cent more than the average level of 50.741 BCM over the last 10 years. It was also higher than the 69.440 BCM on this date last year.

All the river basins, except the Ganga, the reservoir position is better than the average for the last 10 years.

There is only one reservoir - Gandhi Sagar in Madhya Pradesh - where the water levels are precarious, with live storage below 30 per cent of normal.

Besides, there are six reservoirs - Rana Pratap Sagar (Rajasthan), Sriramsagar (Andhra Pradesh), Yeldari and Isapur (Maharashtra), Gumti (Tripura) and Damanganga (Gujarat) - where the live storage is 30-50 per cent of normal levels.

In four other projects - Vanivilas Sagar (Karnataka), Vaigai (Tamil Nadu), Ramganga (Uttaranchal) and Rihand (Uttar Pradesh) - the live storage range is 50-80 per cent of the average of the last 10 years.

The ample reservoir position, more so in the South and West (where there are no perennial rivers), is good news for the agricultural economy, which would also help the Government in its efforts to curtail price increases in essential commodities.