As monsoon showers 2% surplus, storage in India’s key reservoirs tops 70%

HOSAPETE (KARNATAKA) 29-07-2025: Water gushes out of Tungabhadra Dam as discharge continues amid heavy inflows from upstream reservoirs and persistent rainfall in the catchment area on Tuesday.PHOTO: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
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SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The storage in India’s 161 major reservoirs topped 70 per cent this week with the South-West monsoon continuing to shower surplus rain, particularly in the southern and north-western region.

Data from the Central Water Commission (CWC) in its weekly bulletin on the 161 reservoirs showed that the level was 72.55 per cent of the 182.496 billion cubic metres (BCM) capacity at 132.398 BCM. “The overall storage position is better than the corresponding period of last year in the country as a whole and is also better than the normal storage (last 10 years) during the corresponding period,” the CWC said in its bulletin. 

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the monsoon is two per cent surplus so far, though east and north-eastern and southern peninsula are 20 per cent 4 per cent deficient, respectively. The spatial distribution has also been uneven with 30 per cent of the 728 districts being either deficient or large deficient. However, there is no region that has not received rain so far. 

North up sharply

The storage in all the regions increased this week, with the rise being significant in the northern region, which has been witnessing lower storage since last year. Overall, seven reservoirs continued to be filled to capacity this week too. Among the States, the lone reservoirs in Goa and Mizoram are full, while Tamil Nadu and Tripura boasted of over 95 per cent storage.

In the northern region, the level in the 11 reservoirs surged to nearly 72 per cent this week of the 19.836 BCM capacity at 14.290 BCM. The storage in Rajasthan was unchanged at 85 per cent, but it increased to 64 per cent in Punjab and 68 per cent in Himachal.

The storage in 27 reservoirs of the eastern region was 55 per cent of the 21.724 BCM capacity at 11.941 BCM. Besides Mizoram and Tripura, the level in Bihar was 77 per cent and in Bengal 68 per cent. Except for Odisha, the storage in the rest of the States in the region was above 50 per cent. 

In the 50 reservoirs of the western region, the level was 75.45 or 28.286 BCM of the   37.357 BCM capacity. Apart from Goa, Maharashtra dams were filled over 85 per cent, while those in Gujarat were filled to nearly 65 per cent. 

In the central region, the storage increased to 72.62 per cent of the 48.588 BCM at 35.284 BCM. The storage in Uttarakhand at 57 per cent continued to be lower than Madhya Pradesh (75.8 per cent), Uttar Pradesh (about 70 per cent) and Chhattisgarh (73 per cent). 

IOD may delay monsoon withdrawal

Tamil Nadu continued to benefit from the south-west monsoon, though Telangana (52.14 per cent) continued to lag. The level in the 45 reservoirs of the southern region was 77.7 per cent of the 54.939 BCM capacity at 42.697 BCM . The storage in Andhra was 75.49 per cent. In Kerala and Karnataka, the level  was 73 per cent and 81 per cent, respectively.

The storage situation augurs good not only for the kharif crops, but also for the rabi season that will begin in October. The IMD has projected normal rainfall this month, while it has predicted surplus rain in September. 

Meanwhile, Jason Nicholls, lead international forecaster of AccuWeather, said a negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) has developed and it could delay the withdrawal of the south-west monsoon, while putting off the onset of north-east monsoon in October.

(With inputs from Srikrishnan PC, Chennai)

Published on August 7, 2025