This refers to the letter, ‘The dam statement’ (December 30) by Shahid Ehsan. The writer will understand the futility of the anti-gravity idea after the construction of the Kalabagh Dam when we would be compelled to operate spillways during the monsoon season when 1.2 million cusecs of water would pass through the dam. This step would be a must to save the dam, the Barotha Power Complex and low-lying areas in Punjab, Sindh and even in D I Khan.
A similar situation was observed during the 2010 flood in the Indus River and in the Jhelum River during the 1992 flood when we were forced to open the Mangla Dam spillways in order to discharge 900,000 cusecs of water just to save the dam. The maximum inflow in Jhelum was 1,090,000 cusecs. The flood level was six feet above the conservation level in the Mangla Dam which was not technically feasible.
Shahr-i-Yar Khan
Peshawar
