Mumbai:
Though the monsoon has now officially covered the whole country, it seems the key reservoirs across the nation have not received as much water.
The total live storage in 84 important reservoirs in different parts of the country, monitored by the Central Water Commission till last week, is 25.191 BCM, which is only 16 per cent of the storage capacity at Full Reservoir Level.
The current year's storage is nearly 57 per cent of last year's storage and 83 per cent of the average of last ten years.
Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters on Wednesday that the monsoon situation in central Maharashtra and Karnataka is a worry that may get accentuated in the days ahead if the rain continues to play truant.
The water level in key reservoirs in Karnataka is 59 per cent away from its normal storage capacity. In Maharashtra it's at 39 per cent.
Punjab, which is already dealing with problems of depleting ground water levels, has its reservoir levels at 47 per cent from its normal storage capacity. Just last week after the level fell in the Bhakra reservoir, an emergency meeting was called to tackle the situation. Even in Jharkhand the water storage level is 47 per cent of normal, while its at 45 per cent in Kerala and 57 per cent in Orissa.