Tarbela reaches dead level as water crisis looms

ISLAMABAD: As predicted, Pakistan’s largest reservoir Tarbela dam reached dead level on Sunday while Mangla dam has just 0.8 million acre feet of water (MAF).

Tarbela dam came on the run of river at 6am on Sunday by touching the dead level of 1386 feet. Now the live storage of the said dam stands at zero. The water inflows at Tarbela have tumbled to 1,15,000 cusecs per day whereas the outflows stand at 1,23,700 cusecs.

Chashma barrage is left with the water in it enough for 2-3 days to cater to needs of Punjab and Sindh. In the same corresponding time last year, country had 7 MAF stored water in both the dams.

Though a new monsoon system is entering Pakistan and may provide solace to the country by Thursday and Friday next but there is also a danger at the same time that Pakistan may not receive the rains despite the entrance of new system. More alarmingly, it may help lower the temperature in Skardu, which has now risen to 29 degree centigrade on Sunday, IRSA spokesman Khalid Idrees Rana told The News.

If exceptional monsoon rain does not happen by Thursday or Friday next, he said, the water shortage in provincial shares will surge up to 15-20 percent adversely impacting the cash crops of rice, sugarcane and cotton.

Further cut in water releases by 15-20 percent, in case monsoon rains do not happen, will prove detrimental to the Kharif cash crops of sugarcane, rice and cotton. If the situation is not improved, IRSA will not be able to have carryover of just 3-4 MAF for Rabi season crops as in last year it managed to have the carryover of 12 MAF for Rabi season. This means that food security will be badly hit.

The IRSA’s data shows that in Indus and Kabul rivers, water flows are alarmingly reduced. The situation in Jhelum that comes from held Kashmir is also not good as water inflows are at 40,000 cusecs per day whereas the outflows stand at 55000 cusecs per day. In Chenab river also originating from Indian held Kashmir, the situation is dreadful as the flows in the said river declined by 49000 cusecs with outflows at 17300 cusecs. The exceptional rise in temperature at Skardu and extraordinary monsoon can alone bail out the country out of water crisis, argues IRSA spokesman.