20000325

Water reservoirs

fall to alarming

level

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The water reservoirs of the country have fallen to an alarming level, the chairman of Wapda said on Friday.

Currently, Wapda has been maintaining its supplies at high risk from the Tarbela Dam where the water has reached the dead level of 1340 feet, he told a press conference in Karachi. The balance of inflow and outflow of water has been in the negative, he said.

The officials of Wapda had made a duct in the silt to retrieve each drop of water possible at this risky water level, the chairman said. Every year about two million tonnes of silt is encroaching upon the dam cutting its reservoirability short. The outreach of mud in the lake is now barely 12 km off power generation plant, he disclosed.

The climatic indicators had been negative this year, he said since the glaciers in northern areas had yet not started to melt as the temperature is still low there. Meteorological forecast suggests that the weather may be favourable after April's initial days.

Likewise in Mangla, the water level has also reached the minimum ceiling of 1040 feet. The Mangla lake already carried a backlog since it could not be filled upto its maximum capacity due to poor rainfall in the last season. However, water level in the River Chenab was improving, he said.