Altaf Hamid Rao.
MIRPUR (AJK), (Parliament Times) : Mangla Dam, the biggest reservoir in terms of water storage in Pakistan, on Thursday filled to its maximum conservation level of 1242 feet above mean sea level, WAPDA officially said.
“As much as 7.277 MAF of useable water is available in the reservoir. With this development, all three reservoirs i.e. Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma are filled to their maximum levels with cumulative live storage of 13.316 MAF, which is a good omen for irrigated agriculture and hydel generation”, media wing of WAPDA said in an official statement, released to the media here on Thursday.
Our Special Jammu Kashmir state Correspondent Altaf Hamid Rao reports from Mirpur that completed in 1967, Mangla Dam, located in Mirpur district of Azad Jammu Kashmir, has been significantly contributing for economic stability in the country, as it helps ensure water supply for irrigation, mitigates floods, and provides clean, green and affordable hydel electricity to the National Grid.
At the time of its construction, Mangla Dam had a live storage capacity of 5.88 MAF, which gradually decreased to 4.6 MAF by 2004 due to the natural phenomenon of sedimentation.In 2004, WAPDA commenced Mangla Dam Raising Project. On completion of Mangla Raising Project, WAPDA not only regained the lost storage capacity but also enhanced it to 7.5 MAF with an addition of 2.9 MAF, turning Mangla Dam to the biggest water reservoir in Pakistan.
Being a multipurpose project, Mangla Dam also had an installed power generation capacity of 1000 MW. In view of the aging factor of the generating equipment and availability of additional water due to the raised Mangla Dam, WAPDA is implementing Mangla Refurbishment Project in a phased manner. Mangla Refurbishment Project will increase the power generation capacity from 1000 MW to 1310 MW, according to the official statement