KARACHI, June 28: Water level in Hub dam reservoir shot up by 15.6 feet in the wake of widespread rains in its 3,410 square mile catchment area over the last four days. The dam’s RL (Reservoir Level) has risen up to 327 feet, just 12 feet below its maximum conservation level, i.e. 339 feet.

Wapda officials posted at the dam termed the input ‘a boon’ for the sprawling townships of Karachi and Lasbela district of Balochistan which are hooked to the Hub Dam source. They said that the water available in the reservoir at the moment was sufficient enough to cater to the needs of the two beneficiaries for a period of 14 months even they continued to draw 100 and 59 million gallons per day, respectively.

Considering the forecast of heavy rains in the monsoon season, it may be anticipated that the dam would get more water than its capacity in a few days and may start overflowing from the 6,020-feet-long spillway towards the Arabia Sea if the rainfall continued.

Sources apprehend that the spill may cause flash floods in the downstream area and pose a serious threat to the life and property of those living in villages along the spillway. Such a situation had developed in 1994 and again in 2003.

A Wapda press note issued at noon Wednesday confirmed the reservoir level having touched the mark of 323 feet, and reported an upward trend. “Our un-gated/uncontrolled spillway may (become) active within one or two days if the current spell of heavy rains continued.”

Talking to Dawn on Thursday evening, Resident Engineer of Wapda’s Hub Dam Project Inamullah Khan reported a further four-feet rise in the reservoir level during the last two days. The water level recorded on Saturday was 311.6 which went up swiftly and touched the mark of 327 feet by Thursday evening.

The flow into the reservoir’s huge catchment area, comprising Dadu district, Kirthar National Park of Sindh; and Daruna, Duraji and Shah Noorani of Balochistan, was reported to be heavy.

The dam’s construction had been started in 1963 and completed in June 1981. Supplies from the dam are made via the Hub Pumping Station managed by the KWSB. Water is flown into a 19-mile-long canal. Wapda has been maintaining a five mile section of the canal since it handed over the remaining section to the KWSB in 2002.

Four consecutive dry monsoons dried up the Hub Dam and in July 1999, Karachi and Lasbela stopped receiving any supply from the source. The supply resumed in August 2001 following a better monsoon rainfall in its catchment area but in October 2002, it stopped again until the first week of June 2003.