Heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh; Bhakra and Pong dams brim with water

Heavy rainfall in Himachal Pradesh has increased the water level in the Bhakra and Pong dams, officials said on Tuesday. This time both the dams are brimming with water compared to last year but still short of water to reach the maximum limit.

Both the dams serve the irrigation requirements of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

"The water level in the Bhakra dam's Gobind Sagar reservoir and the Pong dam reservoir stood at 1,642 feet and 1,362 feet, respectively, on Tuesday," an official of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), which manages both the dams built on the Punjab-Himachal border, told IANS.

The official added that the water levels in Bhakra dam and Pong dam were 1,614 feet and 1,335 feet, respectively, the same day last year.

However, the water level in Bhakra dam is still 38 feet below the maximum capacity, while it is 28 feet less than the upper limit in Pong dam reservoir.

Authorities said the water level in both the dams was higher this year compared to the previous year as the southwest monsoon largely remained intensified over Himachal Pradesh. "Now the water is at a comfortable level to sufficiently fulfill the irrigation requirements downstream," an official associated with water regulation added.

The official said inflow in the Bhakra dam was 62,700 cusecs and in Pong it was 84,100 cusecs, which was normal. In days, the inflow will decline with the rainfall intensity subdued.

The filling season of the two dams is likely to end by mid of September.

While the Bhakra Dam is built on the Sutlej river, the Pong Dam is on the Beas river.

One of the largest man-made 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 the dam on the Beas river in 1975.

The Bhakra project is a marvel in engineering. The 225.55 m high dam is of concrete straight gravity type having a gross storage capacity of 9,621 million cubic metre.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)

--IANS

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