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India looks at summer water crisis as tank levels slide

India's primary tanks have actually struck their least expensive March levels in 5 years, government information showed, suggesting a possible squeeze on drinking water and power accessibility this summertime.

In major centres such as India's 'Silicon Valley' Bengaluru, home to firms like Google, water system is currently being reduced.

The 150 tanks kept track of by the federal government - which supply water for drinking and watering and are the country's crucial source of hydro-electricity - were filled to simply 40% of capability last week, government information showed.

In the southern state of Karnataka, home to Bengaluru, the main reservoir was down to 16% capability.

Water reserves are the most affordable for March since 2019, when tank capability fell to 35% and saw southern cities such as Chennai run out of water.

The circumstance might intensify the crisis in central and southern cities which deal with extreme heatwaves in April and May. India's water resources get replenished only around June with pre-monsoon and monsoon rains.

In other commercial states such as Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and farming states Uttar Pradesh and Punjab levels are below their 10-year averages.

Longer term, there is a risk of water wars if governments do not act now, stated Sandeep Anirudhan, convener of the Coalition for Water Security.

The low water levels follow a monsoon season last year that saw the lightest rains given that 2018, after the El Nino weather condition pattern made last August the driest in more than a century. The monsoon was also uneven, with some locations receiving more rain than others.

A senior official in the federal power ministry stated the ministry is keeping track of reservoir levels but does not yet expect a circumstance that might result in a shutdown of plants.

If the circumstance worsens due to absence of rains, drinking water supply will get top priority over power generation, he stated.

The federal water resources ministry and the water commission did not react to e-mailed requests for immediate comment.

India's hydro generation in the 10 months from the start of the present financial year which began last April is down 17%. regardless of strong electricity need.

Hydropower generation in Asia has plunged at the fastest. rate in decades amidst sharp declines in China and India.

(source: Reuters)