Water shortage looming as reservoirs drop near dead level

LAHORE: The inflow at Tarbela water reservoir has been recorded 63,300 cusecs, while the outflow from the dam remained 60,000 cusecs, the Wapda said in a statement on Saturday.

A spokesperson of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), amid reports of water shortage, said that the inflow of water at Mangla Dam recorded 50,700 cusecs, while the outflow from the reservoir remained 50,000 cusecs.

The inflow of water at Chashma Lake recorded 92,600 cusecs, while the outflow from the reservoir remained 90,000 cusecs, according to the spokesperson.

Moreover, the water inflow in Chenab river at Marala headworks recorded 24,600 cusecs, while the outflow remained 5,000 cusecs, the spokesperson stated.

The water inflow in Kabul river at Nowshera recorded 32,700 cusecs, and the outflow also remained 32,700 cusecs.

The water reservoir at Tarbela recorded 71,000 acre feet and 4,75,000 acre feet at Mangla dam, according to the spokesperson.

The water at Chashma Lake reservoir has been recorded 1,28,000 acre feet. Overall water at Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma reservoirs has been 6,74,000 acre feet, the spokesperson added.

The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has stated that the water shortages for Sindh and Punjab went up to 32 per cent on Friday as river flows continued to drop and reservoirs at both Mangla and Tarbela dams neared dead level.

IRSA said it reviewed the overall water situation yesterday and decided to apply 32pc shortages to the two larger provinces instead of 23pc shortage at present.

The water regulator said the positive development was that temperature in Indus catchments had started to go up and was reported at 26.1 degree Celsius from 23.9pc a day earlier. The Pakistan Meteorological Department informed the authority that temperatures were anticipated to increase and the river flows were expected to improve in the next 48-72 hours owing to snow melting.