Thaindian News

Chandigarh, Sep 23 (IANS) The Bhakra and Beas Management Board (BBMB) Thursday released over 12,000 cusecs of water from the spillways of the Bhakra Dam, constructed over the Satluj river.
However, the BBMB officials claimed that the released water does not pose any danger of floods in the adjoining villages of Anandpur Sahib sub-division in Ropar district of Punjab.

“The current water level in the Bhakra Dam reservoir is 1681.5 feet whereas the maximum storage capacity is 1680 feet. Due to the torrential rains in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh during the last two-three days, we are observing heavy inflow of nearly 40,000 cusecs,” V.P. Sharma, joint director of BBMB, told IANS Thursday.

“In order to maintain the water level, we opened the spillways and released over 12,000 cusecs of water in Satluj river today (Thursday). We had released nearly 30,000 cusecs of water Wednesday. We will continue this in the coming days and it does not pose any flood threat in the adjoining areas,” he added.

The water level in the Gobind Sagar reservoir of the Bhakra Dam, described by late prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru as ‘one of the temples of modern India’, was increasing by half to one foot everyday.

Release of water in Satluj river posed flood threat to the low-lying areas of Ropar district and the Sikh holy towns of Anandpur Sahib and Kiratpur Sahib.

However, Ropar administration said that the official machinery was ready to tackle any emergency situation.

“We are closely monitoring the situation and so far the condition is under control. We have made all arrangements to tackle any kind of emergency situation,” said A.S. Miglani, Ropar deputy commissioner.

The Bharka Dam is located in Himachal Pradesh, along the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border, 130 km from Chandigarh.