In another four days, the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) will decide whether it has to release water from the Bhakra Dam.
As heavy rains in Himachal in the past week have resulted in Bhakra flowing above the spillage level, 1,645 feet — a point set by the BBMB authorities to release the water into the Sutlej River, a board meeting has been called to review the situation on July 30.
“As of now, we have felt that there is not an emergent need to release the water. It has just crossed 1,645 feet mark. Though we have set this level earlier to release the water, we have called a review meeting with the partner states on July 30 to decide the further course of action,” BBMB Member Irrigation Sl Agarwal told The Pioneer.
Agarwal said it was only decided in the meeting whether to release the water, and in what quantity. The water level in Bhakra Dam reservoir was recorded at 1,645.34 feet on Friday, against the level of 1,562.92 feet on the same day in the previous year — 82.42 feet more. The water level was just below 1,645 feet — 1,644.36 feet — a day before.
Concerned over the development, the BBMB held a series of meetings with the authorities concerned in the partnering States of Punjab and Haryana, along with the in-house board meetings on Thursday and Friday.
BBMB chairman AB Agarwal had also met Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal on late Thursday evening to apprise them about the situation.