Punjab floods: Bhakra water level drops; Pong dam maintains high outflow

In what could be a sigh of relief for Punjab, inflows in Bhakra Dam have reduced to 62481 cusecs.

The dam level has also come down to 1,678.14 feet, about 2 feet below the 1680 feet peak storage level of Bhakra Dam. The sources said that the BBMB would continue releasing about 70000 cusecs from Bhakra Dam until the water level in the dam comes to 1,677 feet, three feet below the maximum level. The three feet below the peak level of 1680 feet would give BBMB authorities cushion in case the rains return in the month of September, the sources told The Tribune.

Since yesterday, the BBMB authorities have kept the outflows from Bhakra Dam at about 70,000 cusecs. Out of this, just about 55,000 cusecs was being released in the natural basin of Sutlej, while about 15,000 cusecs was being released in the Nangal hydel and Anandpur Sahib hydel canals emerging from Nangal Dam. Though the water level from Bhakra into the Sutlej basin has decreased to about 55,000 cusecs, the Bela villages located inside the river basin continue to remain cut off from the mainland. The district administration and social volunteers are engaged in helping the people residing in Bela villages of Ropar district.

The water level in Pong Dam continues to remain high as the Beas river was still receiving high inflows. The water level in Pong Dam as of this morning was 1,394.67 feet, more than four and a half feet above the 1,390 feet maximum storage of Pong Dam. Inflows in Pong Dam also remain high at 98,418 cusecs, which was slightly less than yesterday’s inflows of 10,5950 cusecs recorded yesterday. The outflows from Pong Dam are 99,673 cusecs, which is the same since yesterday. There would be little relief for people residing in and on the banks of the Beas river in Punjab and Himachal for the next few days as outflows from Pong Dam would continue to remain high as the BBMB authorities would try to gradually bring down the Dam level to 1,390 feet, the sources told The Tribune.