CHANDIGARH – The water level at the Bhakra Dam has risen by nearly three feet in just 24 hours, reaching 1676.72 feet, just 3.28 feet shy of its 1680-foot danger mark. This alarming rise, fueled by heavy rains in its catchment areas in Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, has prompted authorities to issue flood alerts for downstream districts along the Sutlej river, including Ropar, Nawanshahr, Ludhiana, and Jalandhar.
The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) is currently managing the dam’s outflow, with 56,000 cusecs of water being released downstream through its turbines and spillway gates, while inflows stood at 1.07 lakh cusecs. An official from the BBMB, who requested anonymity, noted that while the dam can safely hold water 10 feet above the danger level, the rapid influx is a cause for concern.
This year, unlike previous seasons, rainfall has been the primary contributor to the rise in the reservoir’s water level, with the dam now filled to 97% of its capacity. The situation is compounded by the fact that the Sutlej, Beas, and Ravi rivers are all in spate, flooding large parts of Punjab.
The Jalandhar administration has already sounded an alert, urging residents along the Sutlej to move to safer areas. The Pong Dam on the Beas river has also reached a critical level, with its floodgates open for over 15 days, inundating low-lying areas. The Harike headworks is discharging over 2.84 lakh cusecs, worsening the flood situation in Ferozepur and Fazilka districts.
According to a government bulletin, over 10,000 hectares of agricultural land have been submerged in the last 24 hours alone, bringing the total inundated area to 1.48 lakh hectares.