River water inflow improving: IRSA

ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) announced on Saturday that water inflow improvements in major rivers, especially in Indus, Jehlum, Chenab and Kabul, were recorded following the snow melting impact.

The IRSA said the impact was because of a sudden increase in temperature.

“Because of better inflow in rivers, the water situation is getting better and further improvement is expected in the next week after snow melting,” an IRSA official said.

He said the unprecedented temperature increase would contribute to snow melting in the near future, especially on the small peaks of hilly areas in the North West Frontier Province and Kashmir. About the recent water crisis, he said, “There is no water crisis in the country and the situation is normalising.

We are hopeful about the water improvement in major rivers including Indus, Jhelum, Chenab and Kabul.”

He said sufficient water would be available to meet the country’s needs in the upcoming seasons because of a heavy snowfall over hills, especially in upper parts of the Northern Areas and various hilly areas in Balochistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The water level at the Tarbela Dam, was recorded at 1,365 feet which is the recently declared dead level of the dam, instead of 1,369 feet. According to an official data released by the IRSA on Saturday, the water inflow at the Tarbela Dam remained at 33,600 cusecs and the release was recorded at the same 33,600 cusecs.

On the dam’s water position, the official admitted that there it was critical but promised that it would be over within days. About the Mangla Dam, he said the water level was recorded at 1050.40 feet, which was more than 10 feet above the dead level of 1,040 feet. The water inflow at the dam remained at 31,414 cusecs and the outflow was recorded at 25,000 cusecs. “We are expecting further water level improvement because of the increase of inflow at both the major water reservoirs, owing to snow melting in the Frontier lower hills and Kashmir,” he said.

Referring to the contribution of the Kabul and Chenab Rivers, he said the contribution of both rivers was recorded at 20,100 and 16,113 cusecs. —APP

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