Operation POLO

Over the past few years, Hyderabad State has attracted increased attention. Hyderabad Liberation Day is observed on September 17, and many young men and women have been actively looking for information and solutions on their own out of curiosity. In the lead-up to the anniversary, there are also plans for events pertaining to Hyderabad and Operation Polo.

Academics believe that the corpus of literature centered on the historical significance of the Qutb Shahi Kingdom, Hyderabad State, and Operation Polo has been expanding over time. And one of the factors is the Telangana movement's success. "The triumph of the Telangana movement has been a major influence. Politics and history are subjects that are quite popular. Political anthropologist Shefali Jha explains that this is because Telangana, a new political entity, depends on both of these.

According to Ms. Jha, the movement called into question conventional wisdom, leading to a reconsideration of important topics like the actual character of the Nizam's authority and how "Telangana culture" is understood. It was also evaluated how languages and geographical areas shaped and preserved historical narratives and memories.

The widespread misnomer for Operation Polo, Police Action, caught the attention of 25-year-old engineer Saad Siddiqui. His maternal grandmother, who was alive during that turbulent period, was the go-to expert. She described her experiences when I questioned her about what had transpired. It was during casual talks with grandparents that I learned of Operation Polo. He continued, saying that his parents had mentioned his great-grandfather, a Hyderabad Civil Services officer, and that's when I started going on [heritage] walks to learn about it from a variety of sources. "My parents say he died soon, taking his personal experience of Operation Polo with him."

According to Sibghat Khan, the founder of the Deccan Archive, an organization dedicated to gathering, documenting, and fostering discussion about history, written resources are now easier to obtain than they were more than 15 years ago. Heritage walks have also contributed to encouraging a curious and healthy mindset among the general people. The simplest method of obtaining knowledge is to speak with their grandparents, some of whom were harmed during Operation Polo. In this way, personal accounts and Operation Polo tales are revealed. I also believe that a trigger is the celebration of something that many find upsetting," he added.

This year's rains in India were good. How are its reservoirs doing?

Since July 2, when the southwest monsoon moved across the whole nation, most sections of the country have had constant or intermittent rainfall. As of September 12, 836.7 mm of rain had fallen nationwide, an 8% excess for this time of year.

According to the Central Water Commission's (CWC) most recent weekly data on reservoirs and river basins, the overall storage position is better than it was both the previous year and during the same period last year.

Status of all India reservoirs

The current accessible stock is 153.757 billion cubic meters (BCM), or 85% of the entire live storage capacity of 180.852 billion BCM in 155 reservoirs. The 10-year average of total water reserves is 130.594 BCM; at the same time last year, they were 119.451 BCM.

Just five of the 155 reservoirs have less than 50% of their live storage capacity, while 141 have more than 80%.

Regional reservoirs

NORTH: The combined live water storage of eleven reservoirs in Rajasthan, Punjab, and Himachal Pradesh is 19.836 BCM. This week, there is 13.468 BCM of water available, or 68% of the entire live storage capacity. Since the decadal average is 82% and storage at the same period last year was 81% of live storage capacity, storage this year is lower.

Himachal (535.9 mm) and Punjab (304.5 mm) had rainfall totals to September 11 that were, respectively, 21% and 24% below average. More importantly, the season's rainfall totals for these states have not been typical.

EAST: The combined live storage capacity of the twenty-five reservoirs that CWC monitors in the states of Assam, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Tripura, Nagaland, and Bihar is 20.798 BCM. As of September 12, there were 15.797 BCM in total reserves, or 76% of capability. The decadal average is 69%, while this figure was 58% the previous year.

Since there has been good rainfall across the remaining states, the region's reservoir stocks have not been impacted by the rainfall that was received over Nagaland and Bihar, which recorded a negative departure of 28% each till September 11.

WEST: There are 50 reservoirs in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Goa that are monitored by the CWC and have a combined live storage capacity of 37.357 BCM. 90% of the total live storage capacity, or 33.526 BCM, was the most recent live water stock that was accessible. The 10-year average is 73%, and the available water stock was 75% in September of previous year.

The reason for the plentiful stockpiles is that Gujarat and Maharashtra have both had exceptionally heavy rains this season; Gujarat has seen significant flooding and has even had rain in the Kutch desert.

CENTRAL: With a combined live storage capacity of 48.227 BCM, this region consists of 26 reservoirs spread over the states of Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. 89% of the total live storage, or 42.808 BCM, was the water stock as of September 12. This was 76% in 2023 and 77% on a decadal average.

Since the monsoon season began in June, all of central India has benefited from either normal or excessive rainfall.

SOUTH: The combined live water storage capacity of the 43 reservoirs in this region that are being monitored by CWC is 54.634 BCM. The most recent stock is 48.158 BCM, or 88% of total capacity; this is significantly higher than the decadal average (65%) and 2023 (49%).

Over the previous four months, there has been a lot of rainfall in South India as well. This season has been beneficial for coastal Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu as well as their surrounding areas, which receive little rainfall from the southwest monsoon. This has increased dam reserves. Karnataka reservoirs had dead stock in the summer and several ideal fillings during this time of year.

More favorable or less favorable than 2023

Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Nagaland, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu all have better storage conditions than they did a year ago.

In Goa and Telangana, the situation remains the same; in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttarakhand, it is worse than in 2023.

Status of river basins

Storage in major river basins is normal or above. These are Krishna (94.53%), Cauvery (93.54%), Narmada (92.19%), Godavari (91.85%), Tapi (85.96%), Ganga (83.29%), Mahanadi (83.48%), Mahi (83.91%), Brahmaputra (66.93%), Barak and others (98.72%), and others.