HARIPUR, March 22: The Khanpur reservoir has filled to capacity during the current wet spell, forcing the authorities to discharge surplus water, sources said. The hilly areas of upper Hazara, the catchment area of the rain-fed dam, have received 120mm to 150mm of rain, raising the level of the reservoir to 1981.5ft, only 0.5ft below the conservation level of 1982ft, said Khanpur Dam Executive Engineer Asim Khan.

The administration had opened the spillway gates, flushing out 8,500 cusecs of water to create space for further inflow, he said.

On Wednesday evening, the water level in the reservoir was 1978.8ft with 6,871 cusecs of inflow and 6,941 cusecs outflow.

In reply to a question, he said that since the rainwater took time reaching the reservoir, the management had decided to operate all the five spillways for a few hours during the night.