CHANDIGARH: With summer approaching, water levels in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab dams have dropped significantly—46 per cent and 52 per cent below normal, respectively, as per data by the Central Water Commission (CWC)—raising concerns over potential impacts on power generation and irrigation in the coming months.The current storage at Bhakra Dam is 1.247 billion cubic metres (BCM) against its total capacity of 6.229 BCM, which is 20 per cent. The average storage at this time of the year over the past 10 years has been 33 per cent.At Pong Dam, the current storage capacity is 0.816 BCM against its total capacity of 6.157 BCM, which is 13 per cent, compared to the 10-year average of 25 per cent. These dams are on the Sutlej and Beas rivers, respectively, in Himachal Pradesh.Meanwhile, at the Thein Dam on the Ravi River in Punjab, water availability stands at 0.469 BCM against its capacity of 2.344 BCM. This means the dam is filled up to 20 per cent of its total capacity, compared to the 10-year average of 41 per cent.The combined hydropower generation capacity of dams in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab is 3,175 megawatts (MW), while their irrigation potential is 10,24,000 hectares. These dams are crucial for water supply in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, parts of Rajasthan, Delhi, and Chandigarh.
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