Chandigarh, Aug 26 (IANS) The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) Thursday said it will continue to release water into the Satluj river from the Bhakra Dam and allow the water level in the reservoir to reach the maximum height of 1,680 feet by Sep 10.
As per the guidelines approved by the board, the reservoir of the earthen Bhakra Dam can be filled maximum up to 1,680 feet from the mean sea level.
BBMB took this decision in its meeting with partner states here Thursday.
‘We have decided that we would allow the water level to reach the height of 1,680 feet by Sep 10 and accordingly release the excess water into the Satluj river. The current water level in the Bhakra Dam is 1,674.7 feet and it is increasing at two to two-and-a-half feet every day,’ BBMB chairman A.B. Aggarwal told reporters here.
‘Now we are releasing 10,000 to 15,000 cusecs water, depending upon the inflow, every day. The Satluj has immense capacity and so far there is no threat of floods in Punjab due to this,’ he said.
To maintain the water level in the Bhakra Dam, the BBMB has been releasing excess water into the Satluj since Aug 21. This is threatening Punjab’s low-lying areas of Ludhiana, Ferozepur, Nawanshahr and Ropar districts and the Sikh holy towns of Anandpur Sahib and Kiratpur Sahib.
‘After reaching the height of 1,680 feet on Sep 10, we cannot allow any more water to enter the Bhakra Dam and then we have to release all the inflow. This decision has been taken after taking the consensus from all partner states in today’s (Thursday’s) meeting,’ Aggarwal said.
However, he said the inflow in the Bhakra Dam has now reduced but the situation can become problematic if there are more rains in the region.
‘Inflow has substantially reduced. Earlier it was between 70,000 to 90,000 cusecs but now it has reduced to only 55,000 to 60,000 cusecs,’ he said.
‘Yes, we admit that if there is an increase in rains, then the situation will become really difficult to handle. However, our officials are closely monitoring the situation and we are in constant touch with the partner states,’ he said.
