Shimla, Sep 15 (IANS) The inflow of water into Himachal Pradesh’s Pong dam came down Wednesday due to less rainfall in its catchments, but the spillways were still open to flush out excess water as a precautionary measure.
The spillways were opened Tuesday for the first time in 15 years as the water level touched 1,394.25 ft against the danger mark of 1,390 ft. However, the dam can store water up to 1,395 ft.
‘The water level was 1,394.49 ft at 9 a.m. and the inflow was 33,000 cusecs,’ K.C. Rana, XEN (Water Regulation) of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), told IANS over telephone. He said the inflow in the reservoir has reduced from Tuesday’s 65,000 cusecs. It was 1.85 lakh cusecs Monday.
The Pong dam is located in Himachal Pradesh, along the Punjab border, about 250 km from the state capital.
Rana said the spill gates would remain open Wednesday to discharge an additional 15,000 cusecs of water into the Beas river. He said around 33,000 cusecs water would be released, which includes 18,000 cusecs through normal operation of turbines.
BBMB has said the areas located downstream of the dam can normally accommodate discharge up to 50,000 cusecs.
‘The discharge up to 50,000 cusecs is not treated as flooding,’ BBMB chief engineer V.N. Goel said. For the next few days 15,000 additional cusecs would be released from the spillway gates, he said.
The spillways were earlier opened in 1988 and 1995.
The met office in Shimla said the entire state was likely to witness moderate to heavy rainfall till Sep 17. Some places, Met Director Manmohan Singh said, were also likely to witness heavy spells of rain between Sep 17 and 21.
One of the largest manmade wetlands in northern India, the Pong dam reservoir is spread over an area of 41 km with a maximum width of 19 km in Himachal Pradesh. It came into existence after the construction of a dam on the Beas river in 1975.
It fulfils the irrigation requirements of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.
