Low flood in river Sutlej: Irsa reduces water releases from Tarbela and Mangla dams

Indus River System Authority (Irsa) has reduced water releases from Tarbela and Mangla dams after much needed low flood in the dried up river Sutlej, which has enabled irrigation authorities to feed the irrigation canals of Bahawalpur division for about ten days by the floodwater, Punjab Irrigation consultant and canal regulator M.H. Siddiqui told Business Recorder here on Wednesday.
He said they are conserving the flood water of river Sutlej in the Sulemanki and Islam headworks for discharging it in the irrigation canals of Bahawalnagar and Bahawalpur districts in the coming days instead of water withdrawal from the Indus river. The floodwater would also augment water availability at Punjnad headworks, which irrigates Rahimyar Khan district.
It may be added that River Sutlej has been in low flood in Kasur, Pakpattan and Bahawalnagar districts for past two days with a discharge of near 48,000 cusecs water for past two days after India opened floodgates of barrages and dams built on the River Sutlej following widespread rains in catchment area and released the flood water into Pakistan downstream Ferozpur Barrage.
Talking to this scribe on telephone District Co-ordination Officer Kasur Syed Irshad Hussain shah said that this flood water has been exceptionally beneficial for districts of Kasur, Okara, Pakpatton, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur and Rahimyar Khan in south Punjab as it not only has positive effect on the crops and livestock wealth but has also a significant impact on the environment of the area. The weeklong flood would improve the underground sweet water level and bring back the flora and fauna of the area. Flood Forecasting Centre Lahore said that 35,000 cusecs water was flowing in river Sutlej at Gandasinghwala and 32,000 cusecs at Head Sulemanki at 6.00 pm on Wednesday, which is likely to continue for another two to three days.
Punjab irrigation sources told after this additional water availability for south Punjab, Irsa has reduced water releases downstream Tarbela dam from 1,25,000 cusecs to 1,00,000 cusecs and from 15,000 cusecs to 13,000 cusecs downstream the Mangla dam on river Jhelum. This would help the authorities to fill the two reservoirs to their maximum capacity before the monsoon season is over, they added.
In its weather forecast for Thursday, the Met office said that isolated thunderstorm/rain is expected over Kashmir, North-Northeast Punjab & Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Dry weather expected elsewhere in the country. Isolated rain/thundershower occurred in Punjab, Hazara, Malakand divisions and Kashmir on Wednesday.
RAINFALL IN MILLIMETRES RECORDED AT 1700 PST DURING LAST 24 HOURS:
Joharabad=40, Bahawalnagar=32, Sargodha=26, Faisalabad=19, T.T.Singh=11, Kakul=10, Garhi Dupatta, Shorkot & Balakot=09 (each), Muzaffarabad & Islamabad A/P=08 (each), Islamabad Z/P & Peshawar A/P=07 (each), Bhakkar & Kotli=04 (each), Risalpur=03, Barkhan, Bannu, Murree & Peshawar city=01 (each), D.I.Khan, Chakwal, Multan & Mandi-Baha-ud-Din=Trace (each).