HARIPUR: A man was swept away when the authorities opened the Khanpur Dam spillways here on Friday evening.

The police said Muzamil Shah, 25, and Mohammad Irshad, 24, residents of Kohat, were bathing in the downstream of River Harrow near Tarnava Bridge when the spillways were opened.

Police and rescue sources said Muzamil managed to swim ashore, but Irshad was still missing. The divers launched rescue operation but failed to find his clue.

Khanpur Dam sources said they had announced through mosque loudspeakers and also blew the sirens as usual before opening of the spillways, but the two men failed to take notice.

Meanwhile, official sources said it was the fourth time when the dam authorities opened the spillways during the last 10 days, with total discharge during these days standing at 26,500 cusecs.

They said the reservoir was filled to its conservation level of 1,982 feet on Friday afternoon, forcing the dam authorities to open spillways in the evening. The total discharge of surplus water through the spillways stood at 6,700 cusecs, the sources said, adding the inflow was 1,709.80 cusecs and the outflow for municipal and irrigation purposes through the two canals was recorded as 129.18 cusecs.

The water level was brought down to 1,979ft for creating space for fresh arrival as the upper Hazara, Galiyat and Kashmir areas had been receiving rainfall intermittently.

The official sources said the dam’s spillways were opened thrice earlier and each time 6,600 cusecs of surplus water was discharged.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2020