Pong Dam records highest-ever water inflow

Amidst heavy rainfall and floods in many parts of north-west India over the past few days, the Pong Dam on the Beas river in the state recorded the highest inflow of water ever witnessed. Excess water is being discharged downstream in a controlled manner, taking into account the inflow, the carrying capacity of the river and the consensus of the states.

“This monsoon, the inflow into the Pong reservoir between July and August has been 9.68 billion cubic metres (BCM), which is the highest-ever since inception of the project,” an official of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) said. The earlier highest recorded inflow was 7.70 BCM in 1988 and 9.19 BCM in 2023.

It is a 133-m-high and 1,951-m-long earth-fill embankment dam with the storage capacity of its reservoir at the maximum level being 6.157 BCM. The idea for a dam on the Beas at Pong was first proposed as far back in 1926. The construction finally started in 1961 and the dam was operationalised in 1974.

The water level at Bhakra Dam that lies on the Sutlej in Himachal was 1,672 ft on August 28 against the maximum permitted level of 1,680 ft, while at Pong, it was 1,393 ft against the upper limit of 1,390 ft. The seasonal rainfall from June 1 till the morning of August 28 has been above normal in the flood-affected states. Monsoon has been above the long period average by 31 per cent in Himachal, 25 per cent in Jammu and 24 per cent in Punjab.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) says north India has so far recorded the wettest monsoon since 2013, with 21 extremely heavy rain events being recorded till August 25, a significant increase compared to 14 such events last year.

Weather experts say heavy rainfall activity is mainly due to frequent interactions between western disturbances and the monsoon currents from Bay of Bengal and sometimes from Arabian Sea.

BBMB officials say “rule curves” were developed by the Central Water Commission (CWC) in 2024 for the operation of Bhakra and Pong dams and that these are being implemented this year. The water releases from dams are decided by the technical committee, comprising senior officials from BBMB, chief engineers from the partner states, officials from the CWC and a special invitee from the IMD.

During the current monsoon season, all the decisions such as the commencement of spillway operation, quantum of releases and outflow, and the schedule of release, etc., have been taken by the technical committee after obtaining consensus in an informed and transparent manner, according to BBMB officials. The committee conducted seven meetings in August 2025 to decide the release.

“The regulation of BBMB reservoir operation in 2025 has been done keeping in view the relevant factors such as the upper rule curve, the carrying capacity of the Beas river downstream of Pong Dam, sufficient storage for the upcoming depletion phase and avoiding damages on account of synchronisation of streams and rivulets in the downstream region, etc.,” a BBMB official said.

“Due to a consistently higher inflow, the enhancement of release from BBMB reservoirs has been very gradual keeping in view the safety of the dam as well as downstream areas by the technical committee in a transparent manner,” he added.