PONG DAM RECEIVES WATER TO THE TUNE OF AROUND SEVEN LAKH CUSECS, ADVISED RESIDENTS OF FIVE DISTRICTS NOT TO GO NEAR A RIVER

River banks adequately strengthened to carry high discharges of inflow: Meet Hayer

Chief Secretary asked all DCs to be ready to deal with any situation

CHANDIGARH, AUGUST 14:

Due to incessant rainfall in the catchment area of the Beas River, very high inflow to the tune of around 7,00,000 cusecs had been received in the Pong Dam. The residents of the five districts are advised not to go near the River.

          The maximum level of the pong dam is 1390.00 feet as decided by all the partner states while the current level of Pong Dam is 1395.91 feet. He said the maximum designed water level is 1421 feet and the dam could easily hold water up to 1400 feet.

          To accommodate future inflows, it has been decided to start control releases from the Dam to the tune of around 68,000 cusecs. The release shall be done in a controlled manner and will be increased gradually, therefore the people of the Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Tarn Taran districts are advised not to go near the River. The decision has been taken to accommodate future inflows and the dams are having sufficient storage to store future water inflows.

Water Resources Minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer said that the river banks have been sufficiently strengthened to carry these high discharges. The field staff of the department has been asked to keep the position 24 hours a day.

Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Anurag Verma held a meeting with all Deputy Commissioners through video conferencing to discuss the situation arising due to excess water inflow into the dams due to heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh. The Chief Secretary said that the safety of people’s life and property is the highest priority and work should be done to keep the people living along the rivers safe. He asked to be prepared to deal with any situation and set up relief camps if necessary. He said that constant vigil should be maintained at the sensitive areas and immediate contact with the Water Resources Department and his office in case of any need. Principal Secretary Krishna Kumar was also present at the meeting.