Amid heavy rains in different parts of the country, water levels in 150 main reservoirs of the country have increased to 26 per cent of the total live storage capacity, still lower than in the same period last year, according to official data.

Last week, the water level was at 22 per cent. The current live storage stands at 46.311 billion cubic meters (BCM), which is 26 per cent of the total live storage capacity of these reservoirs. This is a significant drop compared to the same period last year, when the live storage was 58.864 BCM, according to Central Water Commission's (CWC's) Friday bulletin.

The reservoirs being monitored have a combined total live storage capacity of 178.784 BCM, representing 69.35 per cent of the overall estimated live storage capacity in the country.

Despite the extensive storage capacity, the current figures reveal that the available storage is only 79 per cent of last year's levels and 90 per cent of the normal storage, which is calculated based on the average storage over the past 10 years.

The northern region, encompassing Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan, is experiencing a notable shortfall.

The 10 monitored reservoirs have a total live storage capacity of 19.663 BCM, with the current live storage at 5.979 BCM (30 per cent of capacity). This is significantly lower than last year's 63 per cent and the normal storage level of 35 per cent.