Tarbela dam water nears dead level

LAHORE: Water level at Tarbela dam on Indus River is likely to hit rock-bottom by end of month as its level is being receded to allow work on a tunnel as part of hydropower project, it was learnt on Saturday.

According to water report issued by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda), level of Tarbela dam on February 20 was recorded at 1,423.69 feet compared to the dead level of 1,392 feet, showing just about 30 feet of storage available to meet demand of winter crops. The available live storage of 0.552 million acre feet (MAF) is expected to fully deplete by end of February as a planned discharge from dam as to allow work on the tunnel, said an official.

An official of provincial Irrigation Department also confirmed lowering of dam storage, saying water releases from Mangla dam, the biggest reservoir of the country, are increased to meet water requirements of Sindh instead. Indus River System Authority (IRSA) already informed provinces about depletion of Tarbela dam and resultant outflows according to whatever inflows are available due to what he called technical reasons, he said.

To a question, he said, water requirements of later rabi and early kharif seasons are expected to be met despite lowering of water levels in Tarbela dam. “We hope inflows of Jhelum River would pick up by mid-March, enabling water regulator to divert more water to Punjab and Sindh to compensate low outflows from Tarbela dam,” he observed. “As per forecast, we feel that water requirements of standing rabi crops including strategic wheat crop would be met at this crucial phase,” he said.

The cumulative outflows from dams and rivers currently stand at around 115,000 cusecs while Mangla outflows are being gradually increased as 5,000 cusecs were enhanced on Saturday. IRSA is presently releasing 54,700 cusecs of water for Punjab, 50,000 cusecs for Sindh, 5,000 cusecs for Balochistan and 2,500 cusecs for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As per Wapda’s water report, the position of the river inflows and outflows at Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma along with the reservoirs levels and the barrages on Saturday is as under: Rivers: Indus at Tarbela: Inflows 20,600 cusecs and outflows 47,000 cusecs, Kabul at Nowshera: Inflows 4,400 cusecs and outflows 4,400 cusecs, Jhelum at Mangla: Inflows 9,000 cusecs and outflows 60,000 cusecs, Chenab at Marala: inflows 6,600 cusecs and outflows 1,600 cusecs.

Barrages: Jinnah: inflows 67,300 cusecs and outflows 61,300 cusecs, Chashma: inflows: 70,900 cusecs and outflows 65,000 cusecs, Taunsa: inflows 62,700 cusecs and outflows 54,200 cusecs, Panjnad: inflows 3,200 cusecs and outflows nil cusecs, Guddu: inflows 45,000 cusecs and outflows 40,900 cusecs, Sukkur: inflows 35,300 cusecs and outflows 7,100 cusecs, Kotri: inflows 4,400 cusecs and outflows 500 cusecs. Reservoirs (level and storage): Tarbela: minimum operating level 1,392 feet, present level 1,423.69 feet, maximum conservation level 1,550 feet, live storage 0.552 million acre feet. Mangla: Minimum operating level 1,050 feet, present level 1,154.50 feet, maximum conservation level 1,242 feet, live storage today 1.964MAF.