Chennai: Water storage in Tamil Nadu’s dams and irrigation tanks is declining rapidly, raising fears of a severe drought after nearly a decade. Officials say the situation is being driven by a weaker southwest monsoon across the region, including neighbouring states.
The Water Resources Department maintains 90 dams and 14,141 irrigation tanks in the state. The combined capacity of the 90 dams is 224 TMC, but current storage is only 71.2 TMC—about 31.7% of total capacity.
Officials also pointed to reduced effective capacity in several reservoirs due to inadequate desilting, leaving only limited usable water amid silt and sludge. In irrigation tanks, 3,483 have already dried up, while another 6,127 are nearing dry conditions.
Recalling the 2016–17 crisis—when the northeast monsoon failed and a major drought led to acute drinking-water shortages in many districts—officials said Tamil Nadu is now moving toward a similar situation. The Union government has warned that, due to El Niño-linked climate variability, severe drought may affect Ariyalur, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Krishnagiri, Namakkal, Nilgiris, Perambalur, Ramanathapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Tirupathur, Vellore and Virudhunagar.
With grazing lands drying up, officials added that fodder shortages for livestock are also emerging, underscoring the wider impact if rainfall remains below normal.
