Jaipur : In the midst of the scorching heat in the country, the water of big dams is continuously decreasing. According to the Central Water Commission’s report released this week, the water level of 60 out of 140 big dams in the country has decreased as compared to last year. The maximum 10 states have been affected. The reservoir of water from their big dams has been continuously depleted.
More worrying is the situation in the western region, where the water level in Gujarat and Maharashtra has decreased by 3 percent (2 to 3% water level down) compared to last year. In Rajasthan, which is included in the northern region, the water level of large dams has decreased due to over-exploitation of water and scorching heat.
Water level of three out of five big dams of Rajasthan decreased
Out of five major dams of Rajasthan, the water of three dams Bisalpur, Jawai and Rana Pratap Sagar is decreasing. The water of six dams in Madhya Pradesh and two big dams in Chhattisgarh also decreased. It is a matter of relief that the total water level in major dams of the country has increased as compared to last year. Presently, the total water level in these dams is 56.877 Billion Cubic Meter (BCM), as against 53.543 BCM last year. You can see how the water level has decreased in the table below.
West and East regions are more affected
The water level in the major dams in the western region of the country has decreased by 3% and in the eastern region by 2%. The western region includes Gujarat and Maharashtra, which have a total of 46 large dams. One-third of the country’s largest dams are in these two states.
The water level has come down in 12 major dams in Maharashtra and 10 in Gujarat. In the eastern region are Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, Nagaland and Bihar. The water in 10 of their 21 dams has gone down. The details of the dams where water has receded are given in the table below.
38% of reservoirs dry in 5 states
According to the Reservoir Report of the Quality Council of India and the National Mission for Clean Ganga, about 38% of the water bodies in Bengal, UP, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand settled in the Ganges region have dried up. These include 84% in Uttarakhand, 41% in UP, 35% in Bihar, 17% in Bengal and 16% in Jharkhand.