Bhakra rises despite opening of floodgates
Spl meeting with partner states on August 26
Jangveer Singh
Tribune News Service

Bhakra Dam (Nangal), August 21
A year ago, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan engineers manning this dam held a ‘havan’ and a ‘path’ to pray for rain. This year they might start praying again, only for the rain to stop with heavy inflows continuing to raise the dam level, which is expected to go up to 1,672 feet by nightfall despite a four-feet opening of the floodgates this morning.

Heavy inflows of 90,000 cusecs last night and 75,000 cusecs today along with reports of heavy rains in the catchment area has forced the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to have a rethink on whether the water level in the dam should be allowed to increase by one feet every day. Under the present strategy, the dam level was to be allowed to go up by one foot each day till the maximum level of 1,680 feet.

BBMB Member Irrigation MK Gupta is very clear that the safety of the dam is paramount. “I will not allow the water level in the dam to increase by more than half a feet each day after August 26 if the present trends continue,” he said, adding that a special meeting with the partner states had been called on August 26 to discuss the issue. The water level is expected to go up to 1,676 feet by August 26.

What this means effectively is that the dam authorities could well release double the amount of water released today. The discharge of 16,000 cusecs this morning has already put the Sutlej in spate and it has entered a few villages near Anandpur Sahib. A discharge of 30,000 to 40,000 cusecs could flood more than 20 villages in the Nangal- Ropar belt where there are no embankments along the river.

Talking to this reporter, dam Chief Engineer Baldev Singh said senior officers had been put on duty round the clock to watch the behaviour of the dam as well as the spillway gates.

As the Tribune team travelled 500 feet from the base of the dam to its top, one could see activity in the various galleries with senior officers making checks. Motorboats have also been pressed into service to check for any weak points in the reservoir as the dam is steadily filling to its brim.

The dam Chief Engineer says if the present trends