HARIPUR: Following heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Khanpur Dam, Wapda on Monday opened the spillways of the reservoir here to flush out surplus water to create space for fresh inflow.

The water flow into the damis expected to rise in the days ahead as there is a forecast of medium-heavy downpour in northern parts and upper Hazara region this week, according to official sources.

They told Dawn that catchment areas of the rain-fed Khanpur Dam, including Murree, Ayubia and other hilly regions of upper Hazara and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, had received heavy rain in the last 24 hours, taking water level at the reservoir to1980 feet against the maximum level of 1982 feet.

The sources said the dam authorities expected some more rain spells in the next few days, which were likely to bring normal-heavy water flow to the reservoir, so they had decided to discharge surplus water for creating space.

Officials say waterflow expected to rise in days ahead

The people, who live along the River Harro that carries Khanpur Dam’s water to River Indus, were asked to stay away from the riverside for their own safety.

The tehsil administration, police and Rescue officials remained present when spillways were opened.

Official sources said that water level in the dam reached 1980 feet on Monday morning, while with the increasing inflows, the dam authorities decided to open the spillways and discharge 6,850 cusecs of water between 4pm and 10pm.

However, official sources said the heavy rain that fell in the dam’s catchment area started increasing the inflow forcing dam authorities to open spillways three hours ahead of the schedule.

“We have now started discharging water through spillways at 1pm,” an official said. He said the changed situation of inflow had forced authorities to allow the release of 16,500-cusec water from the dam, while spillways were expected to remain open until the middle of Monday’s night.

Official sources said following increased water discharge, the Harro River was flowing in “medium-high flood.”

They said people living along the river were alerted about the danger through announcements from mosques and through revenue officials and police.

When approached, Khanpur Dam Executive Engineer Sohaib Ahmed confirmed the opening of spillways and said water discharge increased from 6,850 cusecs to 16,500 cusecs due to increasing inflow.

The Khanpur Dam supplies water to KP and Punjab areas through right and left canals, with the CDA, Rawalpindi Cantonment Board and some industrial units being beneficiaries.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2025