Water shortage could stall works at Mangla Dam

A project to increase the capacity of Pakistan's Mangla Dam may hit a snag due to water shortages.

This was announced by the country's Water and Power Development Authority.

Authority chairman Shakil Durrani told officials in Kashmir at the end of May that the US$1 billion project to raise the height of the Mangla Dam on the Jhelum River to its maximum level of 378.5 meters may not be
completed because there is not enough water to fill the reservoir.

According to Durrani, the project "would store an additional [3.6 billion cubic meters] of water and generate 644 million additional units of electricity."

The low water availability in the Jhelum will likely hamper this effort.

This year, temperatures in the catchment areas of the Jhelum and other major rivers in Pakistan have remained abnormally low, resulting in less melting of ice and thus less discharge of water.

According to data from the Punjab Irrigation Department, the Mangla Dam is usually filled to its 80 percent mark by June 30 every year.

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