Tarbela, Mangla dams to hit dead level
Both dams would drop to dead-level on Saturday.
LAHORE (Daily Dunya) - Water stored in both Tarbela and Mangla dams will reach the dead level in next 36 hours as country did not receive substantial rains in winter season.
Tarbela dam is only five-feet away from its dead level whereas Mangla dam is only 10-feet away.
Investigation carried out by Dunya News reveal as many as 12 million acre-feet of water, equivalent to storage capacity of two big dams, has been wasted in year 2016-17. Moreover, water scarcity during Rabi season has been recorded at 19pc.
Amidst surging water crisis, Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has rung alarm bells for Punjab and Sindh in coming Kharif season. IRSA will now release 28, 000 cusecs of water for Punjab and Sindh on Thursday.
Earlier, water quantity released for both provinces stood at 32, 000 cusecs.
Well-informed sources of Ministry of Water and Power reveal storage capacity of Tarbela Dam has been chopped off to 30, 000 acre-feet whereas that of Mangla dam has been reduced to 40, 000 acre-feet.
Sources further narrate that water storage would drop to dead-level in both dams on Saturday.
IRSA Chairman Rao Irshad Ahmad told Dunya News that Kharif crops are likely to be hit by lingering canal water shortage. IRSA has summoned session of technical committee, comprising analysts from all four provinces, within next fifteen days in this regard.
Analysts of water affairs and Lahore Chamber of Commerce President Abdul Basit said country’s industrial and agriculture sectors are tackling with dire consequences of not erecting Kala Bagh dam. Basit urged political parties to put their differences aside and to build consensus on construction of Kala Bagh dam
