BBMB decides to release no excess water till the situation in the downstream areas of Punjab & Haryana normalizes

Published on: 13 Jul 2023 at 10:44 AM

Published by: thefactnews

The Fact News Service

Chandigarh, July 13

BBMB has decided not to release excess water till situation in the downstream areas of Punjab and Haryana normalises.

In a statement, it was disclosed that there is 40% vacant capacity in Bhakra Dam and about 31% vacant capacity in Pong Dam.

It was informed in the statement that as on 12.07.2023, the water level in Bhakra Dam is EL 1628.72 feet and the water level in Pong Dam is EL 1363.96 ft as against Full Reservoir Level of EL 1680 feet and EL 1390 feet respectively. During the past 4 days’ torrential rains have caused lot of devastation in Punjab, Haryana & Himachal Pardesh. However, BBMB has successfully absorbed entire flood water that originated in the rivers Satluj and Beas in its Bhakra and Pong Dams respectively. In Bhakra Dam, a staggering 4,45,037 cusec days (1088 Million Cubic Meters) of water was absorbed and in Pong Dam about 6,25,554 cusec days (1530 Million Cubic Meters) of water was absorbed.

These colossal volumes of water was stored within the reservoirs, preventing further escalation of floodwaters downstream. This effort has significantly reduced the fury of floods in the states of Punjab & Haryana Nand Lal Sharma, Chairman, BBMB intimated that due to this extraordinary influx of water in Dams, the water level in Bhakra Dam has risen by 22.1 feet and in Pong Dam the level has risen by 25.09 feet in the past 4 days. However, the position of these reservoirs is still comfortable as we still have about 40% vacant capacity in Bhakra Dam and about 31% vacant capacity in Pong Dam.