Indian Meteorological Department has issued advisories to regions with low water storage compared to last year, it was revealed during a press conference held by Dr. Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology at IMD on Monday.
The data shared by Dr Mohapatra revealed that southern region had the lowest share of live water storage in reservoirs at 59 percent as compared to last year. This is particularly alarming as the country’s monsoon season is at least two months away.
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The statistics also presented a moderate outlook for western region (84 percent), northern region (85 percent).
Eastern region at 113 percent of the last year’s storage and central region at 94 percent of the last year’s storage look much better than the rest of the country.
Dr Mohapatra shared this data at his press conference while providing updates on the Seasonal Outlook for the hot weather season (April to June) 2024, as well as the Monthly Outlook for April 2024 regarding rainfall and temperature.
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Dr Mohapatra warned that this year’s summer was likely to be particularly harsh with Gujarat, Maharashtra, North Karnataka, Odisha, West Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh during April. When asked about the heat wave impact on the ongoing electioneering in the country for general elections, Dr Mohapatra said that the Election Commission of India had already asked the political parties to be mindful of people suffering during their rallies and exercise necessary caution.
When asked about El Nino, a monsoon pattern where above average rainfall is expected, Dr Mohapatra said the conditions seem to be neutral as of April and that more information could be unfolding around the beginning of May.