At onset of monsoon over northwest India, water level in key dams significantly below normal

Tribune News Service

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, July 1

At the onset of monsoon over northwest India, the water level in dams in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, which are crucial for irrigation and power generation, remains significantly below normal.

The combined storage in three major dams in Himachal Pradesh is 38 per cent below normal for this time of the year, while the level in the sole major reservoir in Punjab is 37 per cent below normal.

While the current storage is better than it was at this time last year, it is lower than the past 10-year average, according to latest data released by the Central Water Commission.

The reservoir at Bhakra Dam, which lies on the Sutlej in Himachal Pradesh, is at present filled up to 20 per cent of its total capacity, compared to the 10-year average of 30 per cent.

Last year, the storage at this time was 12 per cent.

The current storage at Pong on the Beas in Himachal is 12 per cent as compared to 22 per cent over the past 10-year period. It was eight per cent last year.

Kol Dam, which lies upstream of the Bhakra and has a miniscule reservoir, is filled up to 21 per cent of its capacity compared to the 10-year average of 36 per cent.

At Thein Dam on the Ravi in Punjab, the current storage is 33 per cent of its capacity, which happens to be the same at this time last year. The average was 52 per cent over the past 10 years.

These dams are critical for power generation and irrigation in the region. The three dams have a combined electricity generation capacity of nearly 3,000 MW.

Bhakra and Thein have an irrigation potential of 676 thousand hectares and 348 thousand hectares, respectively.

Rains in the catchment areas of the dams play an important role in filling up the reservoirs, but these have been deficient in Himachal Pradesh by 23 per cent during May and 34 per cent during June.

A fresh spell of fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with possibility of isolated heavy falls over many parts of northwest India towards the end of this week has been predicted by the weather department.

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