Irsa starts filling Tarbela Dam after go-ahead from Wapda

ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) has started filling the Tarbela Dam from July 1, 2024 after getting a go ahead on June 30 with the hope that the water regulator would fill the biggest dam up to the maximum level of 1,550 feet, keeping in view the increase in water flows. The glaciers are melting as the temperature in Skardu is on the higher side.

Moreover, the monsoon spell is also forecast to begin on July 7-9. However, no long spell of rain in the system has been reported so far but flows in all the rivers are improving. “Now we have begun filling the Tarbela reservoir by 5-6 feet a day. Earlier Wapda barred Irsa from filling the dam till June 30, 2024 because of the construction work on the tunnel-5 project. Wapda had sought time from the provinces and Irsa, saying it would complete the required work of the tunnel-5 project till June 30, 2024. However, the total completion of the project will take 33 months,” the Irsa spokesman said.

“When we fill the Tarbela Dam up to 1,510 feet, then we will increase the water level by one feet each day as per the SoPs.”

This time, the Mangla Dam is also expected to be fully filled up to 1,242 feet, including the additional storage capacity of 2.9 MAF attained during the Musharraf regime through the Mangla Raising Dam project.

“The country will have the stored water in dams in abundance as well as in the system in the months to come,” the official said. “More importantly, we have started releasing water downstream Kotri to stop the sea water from erosion of lands in Sindh. So far, 1.219 million acre feet of water has been released downstream Kotri from April to to-date.”

The official added: “Irsa was barred by Wapda to store water in Tarbela Dam till June 30, 2024. All the provinces are being provided the indented supplies. In the days to come, more water will be released below Kotri downstream. Right now, the country has stored water of 6.186 MAF in dams and barrages with total inflows in the system at 487,600 cusces per day and outflows at 326,400 cusecs.”

According to the water inflows and outflows data as of July 3, 2024, the water level in Tarbela has increased to 1,485.35 feet. This means that the live storage of the said dam currently stands at 2.491 MAF of water with inflows of 264,700 cusecs and outflows at 130,000 cusecs. In Kabul River, flows stand at 89,400 cusecs. In Chashma, water level stands at 648,500 cusces. In Mangla Dam water level stands at 1,186.25 feet with storage of 3.442 MAF and inflows of 51,500 cusecs and outflows of 25,000 cusecs. At Marala in Chenab River, water inflows stand at 82,000 cusecs and outflows at 50,500 cusecs.