Chandigarh: Although the inflow of water from the hills into the Ghaggar river has decreased on Thursday, the situation in Punjab remains tense as Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams continue to hover around danger levels.
Officials said Bhakra dam is currently just one foot below its danger mark of 1,680 feet. The water level has risen to 1,678.97 feet, forcing the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) to announce an increase in water discharge from 75,000 cusecs to 85,000 cusecs. Of this, around 70,000 cusecs will flow into the Sutlej’s natural river bed, while the remaining 15,000 cusecs will be diverted to the Nangal Hydel and Anandpur Sahib Hydel canals. At 6 am on Thursday, the inflow of water into Bhakra stood at 95,435 cusecs.
Pong dam is already running 4.5 feet above its restricted storage capacity of 1,390 feet, with the water level touching 1,394.51 feet. The inflow reached 1.14 lakh cusecs on Thursday, while one lakh cusecs of water was being released into the Beas river. Officials said the flow at one point peaked at 1,32,595 cusecs, though the discharge was kept at 91,167 cusecs.
Meanwhile, Ranjit Sagar dam also remains close to the danger level of 527.91 metres, with water recorded at 526.97 metres. The discharge here has been increased from 49,172 cusecs on Wednesday evening to 70,417 cusecs on Thursday.
In Ghaggar, though the inflow from the hills has reduced to 5,898 cusecs at 10 am, the situation remains alarming in Sardulgarh, Mansa district, where the water level has reached 37,550 cusecs against the danger mark of 32,500 cusecs.
Ropar Deputy Commissioner Varjit Walia said residents of low-lying areas along the Sutlej basin, including Nangal and Anandpur Sahib sub-divisions, have been asked to shift to safer places. He added that though the tributaries of the Sutlej, including the Swan and Sirsa rivers, have receded, the release of water from Ropar headworks would remain around one lakh cusecs. NDRF teams have been deployed in Anandpur Sahib and Nangal to handle emergencies.
Authorities have placed districts along the Sutlej and Beas — including Ropar, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Ferozepur and Fazilka — on high alert as heavy releases from the dams threaten to worsen the flood situation.
