As dry weather and cold conditions to continue, water level in key dams in region falls below normal

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, January 12

Amidst dry weather prevailing over north India and the forecast for severe cold conditions being extended, the water storage in key dams in the region has slipped below normal.

The current storage at Thein Dam that lies on the Ravi in Punjab is 0.58 billion cubic metres (BCM) against the 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 Dam, which is 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 storage at Pong Dam on the Beas in Himachal Pradesh at present is above normal by 21 per cent. 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.

Rains are the major source of water for Thein and Pong dams. The north Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana have remained dry since January 1 this year. Even in December 2023, rains were deficient by 85 per cent in Himachal and 70 per cent in Punjab, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Meanwhile, the IMD has 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.

In a bulletin issued on Friday, the IMD has now 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 12-13, though no significant change in minimum temperatures is expected over north-west India during the next five days, the weatherman said.

During the past 24 hours, the minimum temperatures were in the range of 3-7 degrees Celsius over most parts of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, which are below normal by 1-3 degrees at many places of north India. The lowest minimum temperature was 1.4 degrees Celsius at Amritsar in Punjab.

Cold day to severe cold day conditions prevailed in most parts of Punjab, while cold day conditions prevailed in many parts of Haryana and in Chandigarh and Delhi. Dense to very dense fog also prevailed over these areas, reducing visibility to below 50 metres in some places, the IMD said.

A western disturbance lies in middle tropospheric westerlies which could bring light rain or snow at isolated places over Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh on January 12-13, the weatherman has predicted.

A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from January 16. Under its influence, light rain or snow is very likely over some places in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh on January 16-17.