ISLAMABAD: The water stored at Tarbela Dam reached maximum level of 1,550 feet yesterday but officials said a sudden dip in river flows due to fall in temperatures could lead to about 40 percent cut in provincial water shares.
“The dam has attained its maximum conservation level of 1,550 feet,” said an official statement which put combined live storage of Tarbela, Chashma and Mangla reservoirs at 13.31 million acre feet (MAF) yesterday, reasonably higher than the 13.03MAF recorded on the same day last year.
The water level at Mangla dam remained almost static at about 1,232.8 feet owing to low flows in River Jhelum. Flow in the river at Mangla has dropped from about 45,000 on Sunday to less than 24,000 cusecs.
Flows in the Indus also came down by almost 50 percent over the last 72 hours because of a sudden plunge in temperature from 32-34 centigrade last week to 16-17 centigrade yesterday in Skardu and adjoining areas, which form the catchment areas of Tarbela dam.
Internews
