BBMB issues advisory on rainwater conservation

Kuldeep Chauhan 

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Tribune News Service 

Shimla, July 22

In the wake of a decline in water levels of major dams in the state, including the Kol dam, the Pong dam and the Thein dam, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) has issued an advisory to all stakeholders, including farmers, industry, and public and government departments, to conserve rainwater and use it judiciously. 

The water levels in these dams is 38 ft   to 77 ft lower than the corresponding period last year, which may lead to an acute water crisis in the summer, say the authorities.

Sources in the Central Water Commission (CWC)  said as on July 19, water availability in 91 major dams in the country was 52.355 billion cubic metre (BCM). “This is 32 per cent of their storage capacity,” they added.

Key agengies the CWC, NITI Aayog and the BBMB are monitoring the situation round the clock across the country. A top official of the CWC said the inflow of the Sutlej, the Beas and the Ravi rivers was 30 per cent less compared to the corresponding period last year. 

CWC sources said the discharge in all major tributaries of the Sutlej — Spiti, Parechu, Baspa and Bhawa — had witnessed a decline of more than 30 per cent this year. The similar was the case with the tributaries of the Beas — Parbati, Tirthan, Sainj, Uhal, Manalsu, and those of the Ravi in Chamba district.

President, BBMB, DK Sharma said they had issued an advisory to all stakeholders in Himachal, Punjab, Haryana and  Rajasthan  to make a judicious use of rainwater. 

He said the Bhakhra had a storage capacity of 1,680 ft, but at present, the water level was 1,528 ft — 77 ft less than the last year. The Pong water level was 1,290.64 ft, 38 ft less than the corresponding period last year. The total storage capacity was 1,390  ft in Pong, he informed.

In the Ravi basin, the water level of the Thein dam is 25 ft less as compared to the same period last year.