THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Just two weeks into the Southwest monsoon, the purple line indicating ‘actual rainfall’ on the IMD graph on monsoon performance in the state has snaked its way above ‘normal’ by a heartening margin.
As on Thursday, the state has received 52 per cent rainfall above the normal, a phenomenon that has left officers of the Irrigation Department and the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) smiling for the first time in recent years. Storage in the Irrigation Department reservoirs stands a whopping 139.2 per cent higher compared to the same period last year. KSEB also has reason to cheer; storage in its dams this week stood 198 per cent higher than last year, courtesy copious rainfall received in the catchment areas.
According to the latest figures from the Irrigation Department, total storage now stands at 755.04 million cubic metres (mcm). Last year, the same period boasted just 315.65 mcm, with a relatively weaker monsoon following on the heels of a drought-laden summer. Yet, the current storage is nowhere near the total capacity of the irrigation reservoirs, which stands at 1,847.17 mcm.
KSEB’s hydel reservoirs also tell a similar, perhaps an even better, story. Storage, the highest in recent years, as on Thursday stood 198.89 per cent higher than 2017. All the reservoirs combined have enough water to generate 1,539.02 million units (MU). The same day last year, the capacity was just 514.9 MU. The Idukki reservoir is 36 per cent full and Pamba, 40 per cent.