Telangana reservoirs slump, Nagarjuna Sagar at just 30% capacity

Telangana's major reservoirs are holding far less water than normal, with Nagarjuna Sagar at just 29.68% of its live capacity, the Central Water Commission (CWC) reported on Oct 22. The weekly report covered eight reservoirs. Lower Manair topped the list at 70.01% of live capacity, followed by Nizam Sagar at 57.91%, Musi Project at 57.72% and Kaddam at 54.15%. Jurala stood at 50% and Sriram Sagar at 44.65%. Singur recorded the lowest storage at 11.06%. All figures are well below their normal levels. Nagarjuna Sagar's normal storage is 79.23%, a gap of nearly 50 percentage points; last year it held 96.61% of capacity. Sriram Sagar's normal level is 97.85% versus 44.65% now, down from 99.11% last year. Only Lower Manair remains relatively better, though it was at 100% a year ago. The shortfall has prompted Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to warn that an El Niño‑driven water and power crisis could last until July 2027. In response, Maharashtra’s chief minister has agreed to a 152‑metre Tummidihatti barrage requested by Telangana. Groundwater in Telangana’s cities has also fallen 6.85 metres, leading experts to suggest installing aerators on taps and routing treated water to lakes. ## Context Reservoir shortfalls reflect below‑average monsoon rains and a lingering El Niño, which together lower inflows and raise demand for irrigation and drinking water across the state.