With the City Beautiful receiving scanty rainfall this monsoon, the summer 2015 is likely to spell trouble for city’s landmark—Sukhna lake. The water level at Sukhna lake has dipped below 1,157 ft, which is less than the normal margin of 1,158 ft.
In the absence of heavy rainfall during this monsoon so far, the rain-fed lake is likely to face the same fate next year as it did in 2012 peak summer, when it had almost became a barren land. During the ongoing monsoon, the city has so far recorded a rainfall deficit of around 63 percent after receiving poor rainfall of 243.3 mm against normal of 661 mm from June 1 to August 26.
Also, the chances of revival of monsoon and heavy rainfall in the city are very bleak now. According to the local Metrological Department, the rainfall deficit is likely to increase in the city as there is no possibility of heavy downpour in the coming days. When contacted, Santosh Kumar, Director, UT Environment Department said that the Sukhna lake is likely to dry up during next summer in 2015. The water level of the man-made water body has dipped below
1,157 ft and would decrease further in the coming days due to poor rainfall during this monsoon. “In 2011, the city had received 762 mm monsoon rainfall against the normal monsoon rains of 839 mm. And, the lake had dried up by around 65 percent in 2012 due to scanty rainfall in the previous year,” he said. Considering the poor rainfall this monsoon, the water crisis may hit lake again in 2015, he added. In 2012, a large number of fish had died due to dried up bed of the lake.
According to estimates of UT officials, Sukhna lake needs nearly 1200 mm of annual rainfall to regress to its pristine glory and to be filled to its storage capacity. The average annual rainfall of Chandigarh is 1100 mm including the normal monsoon rainfall of 839 mm. But this time, the city has received only 243.3 mm monsoon rainfall so far and the monsoon season is nearing its culmination. In such situation, the UT officials anticipate that only heavy monsoon rainfall in September can rescue the Sukhna from water crisis next year.
The storage capacity in the lake is around 5 million cubic meters now, which has reduced from 10.74 million cubic meters in 1958. Notably, the UT Administration had roped in National Institute of Hydrology (NIH) in 2011 to study the weed problem, water-level fluctuations among other factors in Sukhna lake.
In its draft report submitted to the Administration, the Roorkee based NIH had stated that the water crisis at the lake is mainly due to deficient rainfall. Evincing concerns on lake’s dependence on rainfall water only, the NIH has recommended a feasibility study to identify alternate source of water for the lake.
In its report, the NIH also pointed out that the evaporation losses from lake appear to be most significant. The average decline in water level during October 1, 2011 to June 28, 2012 is 5.99 mm per day and approximately 300 ham of water is lost due to evaporation. The NIH has also observed that interaction of lake with surrounding ground water could not be established during the study till now. The institute also suggested an increase in the overall capacity of the lake and lowering the capacity of check dams.
To control the menace of weeds and silt at lake, the NIH had recommended the technique of harvesting manually or mechanically from time to time. The Sukhna lake was built in 1958 across Sukhna Choe and was conceived as a place of relaxation, seclusion and sport. The rain-fed lake was formed by harnessing Kansal, Ghareri and Nepali choes.