Being prepared: Khanpur Dam spillways opened to release excess water

Channels opened for the sixth time to make room for more water expected to flow in.

HARIPUR: Following heavy rainfall in the catchment area of Khanpur Dam, the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) opened the spillways of the reservoir on Sunday to flush out extra water and create space for more.

This was the sixth time the officials of the authority decided to open the spillway, said the dam’s Project Director Asim Rauf. He added around 39,000 cusecs of water had been spilled out by Sunday evening.



The catchment areas of Khanpur Dam, including Murree, Ayubia and other hilly regions of upper Hazara and Azad Kashmir, have received heavy rains recently, increasing the inflow of water in the reservoir.

The water level rose an extra foot, touching 1,981.1 feet against the fixed maximum conservation level of 1,982 ft.

More rain is expected in the next few days which is likely to bring normal to heavy inflow of water into the reservoir. Therefore, the dam authorities have decided to discharge water to make space for more, said Rauf.

After getting approval from senior officials, the spillway was opened at 5pm on Sunday for six hours. During this time, water was discharged in the Harrow River, lowering down the level to 1,978.70 ft.



Rauf said the inflow recorded on Sunday morning was 745 cusecs and the outflow through the spillway was 6,500 cusecs. For municipal and agriculture consumers 147 cusecs flowed out through the dam’s right and left canals.

Another official at the dam said the authorities could open the spillway gates again so that more sudden water flows could be adjusted without any problem.

Apart from providing irrigation channels to fields in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, Khanpur Dam also provides water to the Capital Development Authority Islamabad and Cantonment Board Rawalpindi.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2014.