Stanley Reservoir in Salem District Photo Courtesy: Lakshmi Narayanan E
Storage in India’s 166 major reservoirs has dropped to 61.65 per cent of capacity this week, while the level has fallen below 75 per cent in all five regions this week.
Central Water Commission (CWC) data showed that storage in major reservoirs was 113.160 billion cubic meters (BCM) against the capacity of 183.565 BCM. This was 11.5 percentage points higher than last year and 25 percentage points higher than normal (last 10 years).
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), from the beginning of the year to February 18, there was 56 percent less rainfall in the country, while central India received 85 percent less rainfall. Data received from 727 districts has shown that so far this year, 80 percent of the country has received little or no rainfall.
Four reservoirs are still full, but the number of reservoirs with more than 80 per cent storage has dropped to 20 per cent, the CWC weekly bulletin said. In more than 22 per cent of reservoirs, the level was below 50 per cent.
The storage in 47 reservoirs of the southern region remains slightly less than last year i.e. 55.288 BCM i.e. 53.12 percent of 29.371 BCM. The storage in Andhra was 66.5 per cent, while in Tamil Nadu it was 59 per cent. In Kerala, Karnataka and Telangana the level was 55 per cent, 49 per cent and 44 per cent respectively.
In the Western Region, 53 reservoirs were filled up to 73 per cent at 27.684 BCM out of 38.094 BCM. Goa’s lone reservoir was filled to 75 per cent, while the level in Maharashtra and Gujarat was 73 per cent.
Assam uncertain
In 28 reservoirs in the central region, the level was 31.868 bcm, 66 per cent of the capacity of 48.588 bcm. Storage in Chhattisgarh was around 79 per cent, but it was less than 60 per cent in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In Madhya Pradesh this level was 67 percent.
The level in 11 reservoirs in the northern region was 11.330 bcm or 57 per cent of the capacity of 19.836 bcm. In Punjab and Rajasthan the storage was above 65 per cent, while in Himachal Pradesh it was 50 per cent.
In the Eastern Region, the storage in 27 reservoirs was 59 per cent i.e. 11.33 BCM of the capacity of 21.759 BCM. The level in the lone reservoir in Meghalaya was at 96 per cent, while in Assam it dropped below 25 per cent to 26 per cent and in West Bengal below 40 per cent. The storage in Odisha was 63 percent and in Jharkhand and Tripura it was more than 60 percent.
A low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal could help improve storage in south India, although total capacity is likely to decline further as the country heads into summer.
Published on February 19, 2026
