Save Western Ghats, ensure enough water

Water level and storage in major reservoirs of South India have hit record lows with summer heat baking the states.

If the latest report from the Central Water Commission is to be believed, reservoirs in the southern region are impacted the most in terms of water availability in comparison to their full capacity.

The report says, all reservoirs put together are filled to only 23% of their capacity in this region while the current water level in 150 primary reservoirs across the country put together are filled to 38%.

However, barring Kerala, state variables in southern peninsula present a depressing picture. Water level in Linganmakki is merely 22% of the total capacity of 4.3 lakh crore litres; in Supa it is 36% (total capacity 4.1 lakh crore litres); TB dam in Ballari dist is filled to only 5% (3.2 lakh crore litres).

The Srisailam dam on AP-Telangana border is filled to 15% and Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is down to 4%.

In Tamil Nadu, barring Vaigai dam, water level in Mettur, Lower Bhawani, Parambikulam and Sathanur are filled between 24 to 28%.

The dangerous dip in reservoir levels in southern states is attributed to 8% deficit in southwest monsoon (June to September) precipitation in 2023 compared to long-period average rainfall.

The situation was further aggravated with 13% rainfall deficit during the winter monsoon season (October-December) as well.

While water scarcity in Bengaluru is making international headlines, the situation in smaller cities and towns is similarly, if not much more, dreadful.

Cumulatively, the report by the Central Water Commission (CWC) says, current storage in 42 reservoirs in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu is 12.287 BCM (billion cubic metres) of water compared to their total live storage capacity of 53.334 BCM.

This means that the water levels have fallen to a mere 23% of the total capacity this week — much lower than the storage levels during the corresponding period last year (39%) and the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period (32%).

It is a precarious situation no doubt as we are yet to see the peak summer days in April-May.

While low storages may be an issue of concern, the states would need to think of long-term solutions and coordinated strategy to tackle the issues to conserve water sources and augment supply.

Conservation of forests and the ecosystem of Western Ghats holds the key to water availability in the region as all major rivers emerge from these hills.

The mountain ranges stretching over 1,600 kilometres sprawl over 160,000 square kilometres, capturing the first flush of monsoons and enabling the precipitation to cascade down into hundreds of rivers.

Massive deforestation, illegal tree-felling, conversion of wetlands into farms, mass tourism, expansion of built-up area and emergence of commercial hubs has led to disturbance and destruction of catchment areas of most of these rivers.

The reports from Indians Institute of Science’s Energy and Wetlands Research Group point out a loss of 5% evergreen forest cover with an increase of 4.5% built-up cover and 9% agriculture area as per its spatiotemporal analyses of land use.

Highways, railways and power transmission lines have fragmented the forests and enabled all kinds of predatory businesses to infiltrate into the area through the corridors provided by them.

Saving Western Ghats should be seen as the responsibility of all the Southern peninsular states as it constitutes the lifeline for the entire region and not the ones on whom they essentially stand upon.

The destiny of the entire 25 crore people is intertwined with future of the ecosystem of the Ghats.