KARACHI, Aug 21: Water level in the Hub dam level has further risen to a height that both Karachi and Lasbella can draw water from it for 20 months provided they maintain their present level of supply, i.e., 50 and 30 million gallons of water per day, respectively. The present level of water in dam’s reservoir is 313.7 RL (Reservoir Level).
Both the beneficiaries of the dam may also fetch their full quota of supply which is 100 mgd for Karachi and 59mgd in the case of Lasbella, for more than 10 months, the Wapda’s resident engineer at Hub dam, Inamullah Khan told Dawn on Monday.
The water level in the dam’s reservoir had reduced to 282.9 RL on July 29 but it has now jumped to 313.7 RL in the wake of recent rains.
The water from the dam had earlier spilled in the Arabian Sea in July 2003 after attaining its full storage capacity of 339 RL and thereafter water level in the dam continued to recede during last two years as its catchment area had remained dry in both the winter and summer seasons of 2004 and 2006.
Water supply from Hub dam to both Karachi and Lasbella was earlier expected to be stopped from November but since the Allah has blessed us with rains, both the beneficiaries of the dam can now fetch 50 mgd and 30 mgd for 20 more months and draw their full quota of 100 mgd and 59 mgd for over 10 months, the Wapda official manning the dam said, adding the city’s full quota of water from the dam is 100 mgd, followed by Lasbella ie, 59 mgd and Bun Murad (2mgd).
Having a total storage capacity of 339 RL, water from the dam had earlier spilled over to Arabian Sea six times – first in 1984, then in 1989, 1992, 1994, 1995 and lastly in 2003. The dam’s catchment area spreads over 3,410 square miles from Pub Range to Kirthar Range while its reservoir area comes to 30 square miles.
