3 min readJalandharAug 22, 2022 02:43 AM IST
First published on: Aug 22, 2022 at 02:43 AM IST
The monsoon this year is apparently bringing great cheer to people in the northern region.
With around 40 days still left for the season to get over, the reservoirs on various dams of the northern region have already recorded 74% current live storage of water which is not only the highest ever in the past 10 years average (during the same corresponding period) but also 28% more than the storage of water in 2021 during the same period.
Total live storage in these reservoirs is 14.55 billion cubic metres (BCM) till August 18. The total capacity is 19.66 BMC.
Live storage capacity means the actual water storage capacity as per safety norms of a dam against its full reservoir level (FRL), which is always higher. Current live storage means water that is available in the dam at a particular time.
There are 10 dams in the northern region, including one in Punjab, three in Himachal Pradesh and six in Rajasthan.
According to Central Water Commission (CWC), the reservoirs’ current live storage on August 18 was 14.55 BCM, which is 74% of their total live storage capacity. During the corresponding period last year, the current live storage was 46%. The average live storage of water in these reservoirs in the last 10 years during the corresponding period was 67 per cent.
According to CWC data, the current live storage of Thein dam, which falls in Punjab, is 1.999 BCM against its full reservoir level of 2.344 BCM. Currently, the dam’s water level is 523.70 meters against its highest level of 527.91 meters. Last year it recorded only 42 per cent live storage of water, while its 10 years’ average was 65 per cent.
Gobind Sagar (Bhakra) dam, Pong dam and Kol dam, which fall in Himachal Pradesh, have been filled 72%, 67% and 24%, respectively, of their live storage capacity. It was 47%, 38% and 34%, respectively, last year during the same period.
Both Gobind Sagar and Pong dams – located on Punjab and Himachal Pradesh border – have been filled up to 502.07 meters and 416.20 meters against their highest level of 512.06 metres and 423.67 meters, respectively.
Kol dam has recorded a 637.40-meter level against its highest level of 642 meters.
In Rajasthan, the Jhakam dam is filled up to its 100% capacity followed by Mahi Bajaj Sagar and Rana Pratap Sagar with 96% and 90% live storage of water, respectively. Jaisamand, Jawai and Bilaspur dams have recorded 54% and 52% live storage of water.
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These reservoirs have been irrigating over 10 lakh hectares of land in Punjab and supplying water to Rajasthan and Haryana states where the water is also used for irrigating lakhs of hectares of land. Apart from these, they are also used for running around 3,500 mega watt (MW) hydel projects.
Experts say that reservoirs have good amount of water and there would be no problem for irrigation in the area where irrigation is done by canals post-monsoon.
As far as rainfall is concerned, Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh have received almost normal rain this monsoon to date. While Punjab recorded 306.8 mm rainfall (from June 1 to August 21), Haryana registered 320 mm and Chandigarh recorded 680.8 mm rainfall.
Pong dam has been filled up to 416.20 meters against its highest level of 423.67 meters. File 
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