LAHORE, Aug 16: The Mangla and Tarbela dams were filled to their optimum conservation level on Thursday, reducing the risk of water shortage for the rest of the Rabi season.

An official of the Indus River System Authority said although the water quantity in the dams had improved the situation, the stakeholders must not be complacent at this stage.

“Water supply has two components i.e., storage and run of the river. The storage side improves if both dams get filled as is the case now. But, one should not miss the point that 33 per cent capacity has already been lost to silt and more is being wasted on a daily basis.

“As for the run of the river flows, if they remain above average, there may not be any shortage. But, the reverse situation can lead to shortage as has happened many times in the past,” the official explained.

Water planners expressed pleasure over the Mangla dam’s optimum level on Thursday — a week earlier than planned — owing to the last week’s cloudburst in the catchment area of the lake.

Both dams can go further up; seven feet in case of Tarbella lake and four feet in case of Mangla lake as their regulatory level provides more space for manoeuvring, but the water planners are keeping their fingers crossed. The Mangla lake, which attained an altitude of 1,202 feet on Thursday, had been taken to 1,206 feet in the past. Similarly, Tarbella, which hit 1,550-foot level, had seen 1,557 feet storage.

What worried them was the fear that most of the run of the river water would now be wasted to the sea. So far, over 11-million-acre feet water had gone down the sea and almost the same quantity would further go to it, they said, adding that in total the country would lose around 22 to 25maf water to the sea this season.

Had the country built new dams, this water could have been conserved to revolutionise the agriculture sector, they said.

Welcoming the filling of the dams, farmers expressed their optimism that all provincial canals would get maximum water this year, especially for the wheat crop. The provincial planners should also ensure water for non-perennial canals that suffered the most in case of shortage, they demanded.

“Over 25 million acre feet water going down the sea should serve as an eye-opener for the political leadership in the country,” said Idrees Khokhar of the Farmers Associate Pakistan. The magnitude of the water wastage became really horrific when taken in the backdrop of the total conservation which was only 11maf. Had the country built even three more dams, all of them could have been filled and still the required amount of water could have gone down stream Kotri barrage, he said.