65% water stock in 248 major dams in Madhya Pradesh, says official

The cumulative water storage in

248 major dams in Madhya Pradesh is 65 per cent, which is six per cent less than what was registered in the corresponding period last year, an official said on Thursday.

The state has so far received seven per cent less- than-average rainfall, he said.

"As on August 19, the total live storage of water in 248 major reservoirs in the state stood at 16,540 million cubic metre (MCM), which is six per cent less than what we had last year," state Water Resources Department's Executive Engineer Kamlesh Raikwar told PTI.

The water live storage of major dams was 18,119 MCM on August 19 last year, he added.

The full reservoir level (FRL) of these major dams put together has a live storage capacity of total 25,446 MCM, the official added.

According to Raikwar, as per the August 19 data, 48 major reservoirs have zero to 10 per cent water stock, while 39 big dams have 91 to 100 per cent storage.

On the same day last year, the number of dams that had water stock between 91 and 100 per cent was 105, he added.

The sluice gates of six major dams were opened on Wednesday to release water to avert flooding in their catchment areas, Raikwar said.

Meanwhile, a senior official with the India Meteorological Department's Bhopal office, G D Mishra, said that Madhya Pradesh has received seven per cent less than average rainfall so far.