Lahore: Water flow in major reservoirs is improving as snow melts on mountains after rise in temperature.
The latest data from the Indus River System Authority shows that there has been a 37 per cent increase in flow within the last week, as the system received 158,347 cusecs of water in all its rivers on May 7 as against 98,852 cusecs a week ago.
The Tarbela Dam, the country’s largest reservoir, which reached a dead level of 1,392 feet on 22 February, showed an improvement of 16 feet, as the water level stood at 1,408 feet on 7 May. On Saturday, Tarbela had an inflow of 62,400 cusecs and an outflow. 51,000 cusecs.
The condition of Mangala Dam further improved as its water level stood at 1,081 feet on May 7 as against 1,074 feet a week ago. The reservoir had also reached a dead level of about 1,050 feet three weeks ago. The data puts the average water inflow at 30,890 cusecs and outflow at 33,315 cusecs over the weekend.
The water flow in Marala’s Chenab also improved from 13,174 cusecs on April 30 to 21,057 on May 7.
Despite the onset of summer in mid-March, the delay in melting ice has put pressure on the national water supply, which is much lower than the average for the past five years. The kharif season started with a 40 per cent decrease – 30 per cent in the Indus and 10 per cent in the Jhelum branch – which rose to 52 per cent by the end of April.
The situation at Mangala was more precarious as the dam is mainly rain-fed and there was almost no rain during March and April. The Meteorological Department had predicted rain five times in March, but only one happened.
An unprecedented drop in snowfall was also recorded in the mountainous region of the country this season, with only 37 inches of snowfall recorded this year against the annual average of 50 inches. This snow has also fallen at higher altitudes, where the temperature must exceed 23 °C for it to melt.
Farmers in Sindh and Balochistan, badly hit by water scarcity, have started protesting on the streets and staged dharna outside irrigation offices.
Published in Dawn, May 9, 2022