India has more than the usual quantity of water in its mega dams at the end of April, according to statistics released by the Water Resources ministry.
The numbers crunched by the ministry shows that at the end of April, the average water level of 81 of India’s biggest dams is around 60% higher than that of last year and the 10-year average.
“The combined live storage in these 81 reservoirs stood at 31% of designed capacity as on 28.04.2011,” the ministry said in a statement today.
In particular, storage position in the valleys of Indus, Narmada, Ganga, Tapi, Sabarmati, Godavari, Krishna, Rivers of Kutch, Cauvery, Mahanadi and West Flowing Rivers of south basins is better than average while Mahi basin was lower than normal.
Except for Eastern India, the country received higher than normal rainfall during the last 12 months, possibly contributing to the comfortable water situation. Parts such as Punjab and Delhi have also seen higher than normal winter rains.
The reservoirs are important not just for meeting the water and irrigation needs, but also for producing power. The total power generation capacity of the 81 mega-dams would come to several thousand megawatts.