Pakistan could benefit by Rs 900 billion as three largest water reservoirs Fill up

 Pakistan could benefit by Rs 900 billion as three largest water reservoirs fill up

Pakistan’s three largest water reservoirs #Tarbela dam, #Mangla dam and #Chashma barrage are almost at capacity. This is important because this season, 3 million acre feet (MAF) of water flowed through Kotri Barrage into the ocean.

Rao Irshad, a member of the Indus River System Authority (IRSA), said that due to the three dams not filling up last year, the carry-over reserves in them were only 6 MAF when the Rabi season started on October 1, 2019. Due to this, canal water shortage was estimated to be 49% in Rabi season. 

But this year, the carry over is expected to be more than 11 MAF which will reduce the canal water shortage to 20%. It was told that by September 1, the total water reserves would be around 13.62 MAF;

6MAF from Tarbela dam, 7.35 MAF from 1240 ft water level at Mangla dam and 0.27 MAF from 270,000 acre feet water stored in Chashma Barrage Lake. Out of this, 2 MAF would be provided for provincial needs till September 30 while the remaining 11.62 MAF will be used in Rabi season.

Water level in HubDam, which supplies drinking water to Karachi & meets the water needs of several areas in Balochistan, crossed 339-foot mark & filled to its maximum capacity for the first time in 13 years. Sufficient to supply water to Karachi for next 3 years.