Dry weather on in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal, water levels in dams fall below normal

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, January 12

Amid prevailing dry weather condition in northern India, the water level in key dams in the region has slipped below normal.

Data released on January 11

• Thein Dam: Current level 0.58 billion cubic metres (BCM) (38% below normal); storage capacity 2.34 BCM
• Bhakra Nangal Dam: Current level 3.27 BCM (7% below normal); storage capacity 6.23 BCM

The current storage at Thein Dam that lies on the Ravi in Punjab is 0.58 billion cubic metres (BCM) against its full reservoir level of 2.34 (BCM). This is 38 per cent below normal for this time of the year, according to data released by the Central Water Commission on January 11.

At Bhakra Nangal Dam, located on the Sutlej in Himachal Pradesh, the current storage is 3.27 BCM against the full reservoir level of 6.23 BCM. This is below normal by 7 per cent. On the other hand, the water storage at Pong Dam on the Beas in Himachal Pradesh is above normal by 21 per cent for this time of the year. The water availability is 3.62 BCM against the upper limit of 6.16 BCM.

All three dams have a combined irrigation potential of 1,024 thousand hectares and an installed hydel power generation capacity of 2,375 MW.

Rain is major source of water for Thein and Pong dams. North Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana have remained dry since January 1. Even in December 2023, rain was deficient by 85 per cent in Himachal and 70 per cent in Punjab, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Meanwhile, the IMD on Friday extended its forecast for cold day and severe cold day conditions over north-west India for another three days. On January 9, it had predicted that the cold wave was expected to abate after 24 hours.

The IMD predicted that cold day to severe cold day conditions are likely over the plains of north-west India during the next three days and reduce thereafter, with dense to very dense fog conditions likely to continue for the next five days. Ground frost conditions are also very likely over Punjab, Chandigarh and Haryana on January 12 and 13, though no significant change in minimum temperatures are expected over north-west India during next 5 days, the weatherman said.

During the past 24 hours, the minimum temperatures were in the range of 3 to 7 degrees Celsius over most parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, which are below normal by 1 to 3 degrees at many places of north India. The lowest minimum temperature in Haryana was 0.4 degree Celsius at Balasmand in Hisar, while Amritsar in Punjab was the coldest at 1.4 degrees Celsius. Dense to very dense fog also prevailed over these areas, reducing visibility to below 50 meters in some places, IMD said.

A Western Disturbance lies in middle tropospheric westerlies that could bring light rainfall or snowfall at isolated places over J&K , Ladakh and HP on January 12 and 13. A fresh Western Disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from January 16.