Apropos news item appearing in a section of the Press, Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has stated that no water can go missing between Tarbela and Chashma, however, water downstream of Tarbela, at times, could be reduced marginally due to earlier low outflows and dry river bed. Today, the availability of water in Tarbela and Mangla reservoirs is 0.037and 0.269 million acre feet (MAF), respectively which is lower than the average for last 10 years due to prevalence of snowfall and cold weather in the catchments areas, resulting in low inflows. It is pertinent to mention that water releases from Tarbela and Mangla reservoirs are always made in accordance with IRSA indent.
This season, IRSA’s indent remained higher than that of the last year, due to which water level plummeted so quickly. Comparing with the average of 10 years and the last year, the outflows have increased by IRSA on demand of the provinces, meaning low inflows and increased outflows have disturbed the accounted storage of water. The situation is expected to improve as soon as weather conditions in the catchments of the reservoirs become normal. It is important to note that dams are constructed primarily, for irrigation purposes, and hydel electricity is always generated through the water released as per IRSA indent.
