‘Mangla Dam helps avert flood devastation’

LAHORE: Raised Mangla Dam project helped avoid large-scale flood destruction during recent high flow season, saving property, infrastructure, and human lives by absorbing Jhelum River runoff, Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA) said on Monday.

“Mangla Dam yet again proved to be instrumental in mitigating floods this summer, especially in the months of August and September, as it successfully absorbed River Jhelum flood peaks as high as 415,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) on August 28, and released only 100,000 cusecs of water downstream,” a Wapda spokesman said.

“This controlled water outflow from Mangla Dam averted coinciding of 415,000 cusecs flood peak in River Jhelum with 300,000 cusecs flood peak in River Chenab, mitigating flood damages.”

The official said had the peak flood of River Jhelum not absorbed there would have been large-scale destruction downstream of Mangla Dam and Trimmu Head Works. “Mangla Dam not only mitigated floods but also helped ensuring ample availability of water as much as 7.35 million acre feet (MAF) to meet water requirements of Rabi season,” he added.

Mangla Dam has been phenomenally contributing towards economic development and social uplift of Pakistan for the last 53 years by providing water for irrigated agriculture, mitigating floods and generating low-cost hydel electricity. Since its commissioning in 1967, Mangla Dam has made more than 263 MAF of storage releases for irrigation purpose and contributed about 242 billion units of low-cost electricity to the National Grid.

It is pertinent to mention that Mangla Dam is the largest water reservoir of the country with live storage capacity of 7.35 MAF after completion of Mangla Dam Raising Project in 2011. The maximum conservation level of the Mangla reservoir stands at 1,242 feet above mean sea level.