Storage in India’s key reservoirs continues to be above 90% of capacity

The storage in India’s 161 major reservoirs continued to be over 90 per cent of the capacity this week, with one in every three dams brimming, data from the Central Water Commission (CWC) showed. 

CWC’s weekly bulletin on the storage position in the major reservoirs showed that two in three major reservoirs were filled over 90 per cent of the capacity, though the level in 13 was below 40 per cent this week. 

Deficient Oct rain

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the country received 13 per cent deficient post-monsoon rainfall between October 1 and 22. South India received 79 per cent surplus rainfall, though. 

The CWC bulletin said the storage this week was 90.74 per cent of the  182.496 billion cubic metres (BCM) capacity at 165.576 BCM. The storage was over 4 percentage points higher than a year ago and about 15 percentage points more than usual (last 10 years level). 

Among the 161 major reservoirs, 50 were full, while the storage in another 49 was above 90 per cent. Seventeen of Maharashtra’s reservoirs continued to overflow, while five each were brimming in Karnataka, and Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Gujarat, four dams each were full, while in Tamil Nadu, three reservoirs overflowed and in Telangana, 2. Besides the lone reservoirs in Goa and Meghalaya brimming, one dam each in Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Kerala were fully filled. 

The western region continued to have the best storage with the level at 97.23 per cent or 36.324 BCMof the 37.357 BCM capacity.  The storage in Gujarat was 96.15 per cent and in Maharashtra, it was 98.22 per cent.

The storage in 28 reservoirs of the central region was 92 per cent of the 48.588 BCM capacity at 44.597 BCM. Madhya Pradesh reservoirs were filled to 96 per cent, Uttarakhand reservoirs to 95.3 per cent, Chhattisgarh dams to 86 per cent and those in Uttar Pradesh to 76 per cent. 

TN dams filled to 97%

The level in the 46 reservoirs of the southern region was 89.5 per cent or 49.214 BCM of the 54.939 BCM capacity. Dams in Tamil Nadu (96.68 per cent), Telangana (91.5 per cent) and Andhra (90.4 per cent) were filled over 90 per cent, while in Karnataka and Kerala, the storage was 88 per cent and 79.5 per cent, respectively.  

In the northern region, the 11 reservoirs had a storage of 87 per cent of the 19.836 BCM capacity at 17.265 BCM. The level in Rajasthan was 97 per cent, while in  Himachal, it was 83 per cent and in Punjab, 85 per cent . 

In the eastern region, the level in the 27 reservoirs was 83.5 per cent of  the 21.759 BCM capacity at 18.176. BCM. Apart from Meghalaya, the level in the lone reservoirs in Mizoram and Tripura was over 95 per cent. The storage in Odisha was 88 per cent and in West Bengal, it was up 53 per cent.  

With the sowing of rabi crops starting, the reservoirs’ level is expected to help. According to IMD, more rainfall is expected under the influence of the North-East monsoon rainfall next week, with the southern, western and central regions expected to gain from it. 

Published on October 23, 2025