From the Editor’s desk- Low water reservoir level: Why is above-average monsoon crucial this year?

The water level across reservoirs in the country is critically low. The latest CWC report of 2nd May shows fast depleting water level conditions in the reservoirs each week.

States like- Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are reporting less water in their reservoirs than that of last year. This indicates that there is not much rainfall activity in the States. These are all key rain-fed agriculture States. Crop sustenance mainly depends on rains and irrigation channels, and without proper rains, the irrigation channels are getting dried up.

Recently the IMD reported that the pre-monsoon rains across the country during March-April saw a shortfall of 13%. In total 18 States have witnessed a deficiency in the precipitation over the past two months.

Furthermore, the ongoing heatwave conditions are exacerbating the problem by drying up water bodies, with only the Eastern region showing better water availability compared to the previous year. All other regions like the Northern, Western, Central and Southern are reporting less water availability in the reservoirs than in the corresponding period last year. The Southern region seems to be having only about 16% of water availability in the reservoirs.

The silver-lining is the above-average Monsoon 2024 prospect that all the global and domestic weather bureaus have predicted. In the latest report by Skymet, it says that May is likely to have ENSO Neutral, which means neither El Nino nor La Nina conditions are prevailing. Experts say this phase is necessary in the transition of El Nino to La Nina.

However, the Monsoon rains are still a few months away. It will be some time until the monsoon drenches the whole country and starts filling up the water reservoirs. The water situation underscores the need for good Monsoon rain this year.