M A I N   N E W S

Despite heavy rain, dams only half full
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 10
The widespread rain and the resultant floods, which brought in huge amounts of water down the Himalayas, have filled the reservoirs of major dams in the region only to the half-full mark. This dispels fears of any “overflow of water from these dams into the plains of Punjab and Haryana.

On Saturday, the Pong dam was filled to just 40 per cent of its total capacity to hold 5.8 million acre feet (MAF)of water. Only 2.32 MAF of the capacity of the dam has been used so far while the rest is empty. Similarly, the reservoir at the Bhakra Dam can hold 6.4 MAF of water. Till now it has filled up to only 57 per cent of its capacity, that is 3.63 MAF. The Ranjit Sagar Dam, the smallest of the three dams, holds 1.8 MAF water and is about 73 per cent full. There is no danger of an overflow, officials at the Ranjit Sagar Dam told The Tribune over the phone.

Contrary to the panic created by reports in a section of the media that rivers in North India were carrying huge amounts of water and the dams were brimming, a hurried analysis carried out by officials says the dams - Bhakra on the Sutlej, Pong on the Beas and Ranjit Sagar on the Ravi - have no chance of overflowing. There is enough spare capacity to hold water, said a senior engineer.

Water from these dams is channellised through a network of canals feeding Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan and any overflow will mean it will have an effect downstream in the rivers and also the canals.

Armed with the figures of half-filled dams, the Chairman of the Bhakra Beas Management Board, Mr Rakesh Nath, said, “ The dams cannot overflow.” We are following a fixed pattern for filling the Bhakra dam. This pattern was laid down after the major flood of September 1988.”

At present the level of water in the Bhakra Dam is 1599 elevation feet. Till July 31 the level of water can be up to 1650 feet. On August 15 the water level can be 1670 feet and 1680 feet on August 31. The level of 1680 is the highest point up to which the water is filled. However, a buffer of 5 feet has been kept and the brim is at 1685 feet. The calculations are such that any excess water will be taken up by the demand of water in the states.

Explaining the filling of a reservoir a senior engineer said, “Reservoirs are shaped like a V. The lower portion of a reservoir, which fills in first, holds less water while the upper portion holds more as the area or the expanse of water increases manifold.”

The “filling season” in North India ends on September 20 coinciding with the receding monsoon. Another senior official added: “The dams have filled in more than last year and that has caused fears about the overflow. The figures of last year mean nothing. From 1998 onwards there had been less of snow and a very fickle monsoon. Thus, the filling had been slow. This year the calculations are that it will be normal year for monsoon.