LAHORE: The current spell of monsoon rains, which were heavy at times in the river catchments, is rising the storage level of both Tarbela and Mangal dams.

According to the Flood Forecasting Bureau on Saturday the level of Tarbela Dam went up by 4ft in the last 24 hours. The level on Friday was 1,515ft and it went up to 1,519ft on Saturday.

Its maximum conservation level is 1,550ft. Its inflow on Saturday was 276,000 cusecs and outflow 230,000 cusecs. The river Indus was in low flood at this point.

The level of Mangla Dam was 1,224.05 cusecs on Friday and it went up to 1,224.80 cusecs on Saturday. Its maximum conservation level is 1,242ft. The inflow on Saturday was 42,856 cusecs and outflow 15,000 cusecs.

Meanwhile, it continued to rain in different parts of the country, including Lahore, on Saturday.

The Met Office said the rain spell was likely to lose its strength from Monday, giving way to hot and humid weather during the rest of the next week. Rain in Lahore was partial. It added to the humidity in the areas where it remained dry, creating suffocating mugginess.

The Met Office recorded 6mm rain at its Jail Road office and just 2mm at the airport.

It forecast chances of more scattered rain in the city in the next 24 hours. Scattered rain with a few heavy falls was also expected over Sukkur, Mirpur Khas, Hyderabad, Karachi, Makran, DG Khan, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Rawalpindi divisions, Islamabad, eastern Balochistan, Fata, KP and Kashmir.

Published in Dawn, Aug 3rd, 2014