The Union Government has issued a drought advisory to six southern and western states and has asked them to use water judiciously. This was issued amid rising concern of water storage in dams of states which dropped to a critical level.
Key Highlights
- About: The ‘Water’ subject falls under the state list mentioned in Indian Constitution and recent drought advisory recommends states to use water for drinking purpose only till dams are replenished.
- Condition: The drought advisory is issued to states when water level in reservoirs is about 20% less than the average of live water storage figures of past 10 years.
- Issue: Central Water Commission (CWC) which functions as an attached office of Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Government of India, monitors total water storage available in 91 major reservoirs across country. According to recent figures released by CWC, total water storage available is only 22 % (it was 24% in May 2019) of total storage capacity (which is 161.993 BCM) of these reservoirs.
- States: to which drought advisory issued are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.