Timely monsoon a boon: 10 dams in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan record 43% live capacity

During the same period last year, the live storage was 23 per cent, making it an increase of 87 per cent in the live storage. The average storage in the last 10 years during the same period was 31 per cent of the live capacity.

Live storage capacity refers to the actual water storage capacity of a dam against its Full Reservoir Level (FRL), which is always higher. The current live storage indicates the water available in the dam at a particular time. As per the CWC data, Thein dam in Punjab currently has a live storage of 1.233 BCM or 53 per cent of its FRL capacity of 2.344 BCM. The water level in the dam is currently at 512.44 meters, compared to its highest level of 527.91 meters. By June 30 last year, the live storage of this dam was 33 per cent. The 10-year average live storage of this dam during the corresponding period is 51 per cent.

In Himachal Pradesh, Gobind Sagar (Bhakra) dam, Pong dam, and Kol dam had reached 34 per cent, 40 per cent, and 41 per cent of their live capacity, respectively by June 30. This is an improvement compared to last year when the figures were 20 per cent (Gobind Sagar), 10 per cent (Pong), and 21 per cent (Kol). The 10 year average storage for these dams during the same period is 30 per cent, 22 per cent, and 39 per cent.

The water level in Gobind Sagar and Pong dams, located on the Punjab-Himachal border, had reached 485.06 meters and 407.32 meters, respectively, against their highest levels of 512.06 meters and 423.67 meters. Kol Dam recorded water level at 638.66 meters against its highest level of 642 meters.

In Rajasthan, five out of the six dams recorded higher storage compared to last year. Jhakam dam is the only one in state that was filled up to 25 per cent capacity by June 30, which is lower than last year’s 43 per cent and the 10-year storage average of 27 per cent.

Of the other five, Mahi Bajaj Sagar, Rana Pratap Sagar, Bilaspur, Jawai, and Jaisamand dams are filled up to 33 per cent, 80 per cent, 60 per cent, 45 per cent, and 55 per cent, respectively, whereas last year, against last year’s 31 per cent, 63 per cent, 22 per cent, 5 per cent, and 30 per cent. These dams have also recorded more water this year than the average storage of the past decade. Besides providing irrigation water to lakhs of hectares, the hydel plants built on these reservoirs generate around 3,500 Mega Watts (MW) of power.

Adding that the reservoirs currently have a good amount of water, experts said that there will be no shortage of water for irrigation purposes in areas where canal irrigation is used, even in case of a deficit monsoon. The southwest monsoon has covered the entire country on Sunday against the normal date of July 8 of covering the entire country. It has also further advanced into the remaining parts of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan on Sunday. In Punjab, rain was witnessed at several places on Sunday, including Khanna, Amloh, Ropar, Lohian, Nabha, Kharar, and Fathegarh Sahib. The state received 72.1 mm rain from June 1 to July 1, which is 16 per cent surplus rain against the normal required in this period. While Punjab and Haryana received 29 per cent and 46 per cent surplus rain, respectively, in the month of June, Chandigarh received 12 per cent less rain than the normal requirement.

Meanwhile, the CWC is monitoring the live storage of 146 reservoirs with a total live storage capacity of 178.185 BCM. This accounts for about 69.11 per cent of the estimated live storage capacity of 257.812 BCM in the country. As of the latest reservoir storage bulletin, the live storage available in these reservoirs is 47.95 BCM, which is 27 per cent of the total live storage capacity.

Last year, the live storage available during the corresponding period was 49.022 BCM, and the ten-year average was 43.487 BCM. Therefore, the current live storage in the 146 reservoirs is higher than both the corresponding period of last year and the ten-year average. Out of these reservoirs, 18 are part of hydro-electric projects.