Forecast bright, foresight lacking
At a time when water levels in most of the country's reservoirs have plummeted below their 10-year average, the Union government still seems to be on the high it got from last year's monsoon-propelled 8 per cent-plus gdp growth. A normal monsoon has been predicted for this year, too; that it can be effectively harnessed hasn't sunk in yet.
For the week ending March 26, water levels in 51 of the 71 major reservoirs in the Indian river basins were less than their corresponding average storage for the past decade. In 36 of these 51 reservoirs, the amount had dipped even below last year's drought-induced levels. Indicating that just one more normal monsoon won't be enough to tide over the crisis, a Union government official said off the record: "We need more than one successive good monsoon to bring reservoirs to safe levels.'
According to the India Meteorological Department (imd), there is a 95 per cent chance of a healthy monsoon this year. But the government appears to be too deeply involved in the hurly-burly of election