Better water level brightens Kharif crop prospects

[Naveed Yaseen]

LAHORE: Water level in the two main reservoirs has started improving, brightening the chances of water availability for cultivation of Kharif crops and higher hydropower generation.

Water inflows from the Indus River at Tarbela were 27,100 cusecs on Tuesday against outflows of 22,000 cusecs. Water level at the Tarbela dam has increased to 1,374 feet, which is five feet above the dead level of 1,369 feet.

Water storage at present, however, is only 0.075 million acre feet. With temperatures rising, experts expect that accelerated melting of snow will boost inflows in coming weeks, which will fill the dam.

Water inflows from the Jhelum River at Mangla reached 30,200 cusecs while outflows were 28,000 cusecs. Water level at the Mangla dam has reached 1,107.25 feet, which is 67.25 feet higher than its dead level of 1,040 feet. The dam currently has 0.750 million acre feet of water available for irrigation. Chashma also has stored 0.208 MAF of water.

Timely release of water for cultivation will boost prospects of cotton and paddy crops. Agricultural experts point out that major shortage of water for Kharif crops occurs at the time of sowing. Thereafter, water is regularly available from the storage in the two big dams of the country.

The release of water will add 1,000-1,500 megawatts of electricity to the system, which would reduce the duration of load-shedding.

Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) has praised domestic consumers for conserving electricity, which is evident from the lower growth in demand in the sector. Commercial consumers, however, have not exercised restraint in electricity usage and growth in their demand is still very high.

Electrical engineers have also pointed out undue wastage of electricity due to inefficient industrial machinery. They say average age of industrial machines in Pakistan is 17.3 years, but the tendency to avoid balancing and modernisation in most of the industrial sectors has resulted in inefficient use of electricity and increase in the cost of industrial production.

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