The water scarcity alarm bells have started ringing in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, both Himalayan states bestowed with plenty of natural water sources including springs, glaciers lakes and rivers. The reservoirs inside and at the border areas of these states that cater to water needs of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh are at low levels.
Continue reading “2021 Summer: North India staring at severe water crisis?”Tag: Bhakra Beas Management Board
How India Measures Water Storages
Govt and media typically report the status of water storage in India using the CWC’s Weekly Reservoir Storage Bulletin, which contain information about just 91 reservoirs in India. In this article we show that the state websites provide information about huge 3863 reservoirs, which even if not sufficient, is a huge improvement over just 91 reservoirs that CWC bulletin includes. We hope all concerned will try to improve the reservoir storage reporting.
It should be added here that this measures only surface water stored in some of the large reservoirs of India. This excludes large number of big reservoirs, lakhs of smaller reservoirs, groundwater aquifers and soil moisture storage. In spite of these limitations, this provides more accurate picture than just the 91 reservoirs of CWC that everyone in India, including media, govt monitoring and policy makers look at.
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