Bhakra Dam just a foot below the danger mark, alarm bells ring across Punjab
Compared to last year — Bhakra at 1641.05 feet and Pong at 1361.95 feet on this day — the surge is stark.
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Locals along with a dog ride a boat to move through a flooded area, in Kapurthala, Punjab, Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2025. (PTI Photo)With the water level in the Bhakra Dam rising to 1678.97 feet, barely a foot short of its danger mark of 1680 feet, alarm bells have started ringing across Punjab. The Pong Dam, too, stood at 1394.51 feet, above its 1390 feet danger mark, intensifying fears of more flooding in downstream districts.
Compared to last year — Bhakra at 1641.05 feet and Pong at 1361.95 feet on this day — the surge is stark. The situation is particularly critical in Ferozepur and Fazilka, which have already been battered by over 25 days of flooding.
A Ferozepur resident, who has been confined to the first floor of his home for the past week, said: “The danger is far from over if we look at the water level, it has rather increased.”
At the Harike Headworks in Tarn Taran, where waters of the Sutlej and Beas converge, releases on Thursday morning touched 3.47 lakh cusecs upstream and 3.3 lakh cusecs downstream — well above the “high flood” threshold of 3 lakh cusecs. At Hussainiwala headworks, both upstream and downstream flows were also at 3.3 lakh cusecs, keeping the zone under “high flood” alert.
The drainage department’s Thursday morning report underlined the scale of the surge. Bhakra registered inflows of 95,435 cusecs and outflows of 73,459 cusecs, compared to just 35,765 and 21,682 cusecs, respectively, last year. Pong’s inflows touched 1,32,595 cusecs with outflows of 91,167 cusecs — a sharp jump from 30,519 and 16,005 cusecs recorded a year ago.
Deepshikha Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, Ferozepur, acknowledged the mounting crisis, “We are reeling under 2.5 LC+ waters for over 15 days now, and it is increasing every day. We are bearing the waters of both the Sutlej and the Beas cumulatively. Our teams are working hard around the clock, rescuing villagers and providing relief,” said Sharma.
With dams swelling, rivers in high flood zones, and farmland submerged, Punjab stares at worsening conditions in the days to come.
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