Low Water Levels in Dams becomes cause of worry for Punjab

Low Water Levels in Dams becomes cause of worry for Punjab

Bahadurjeet Singh/Rupnagar,April 21,2025

Low Water Levels in Dams  has become a cause of worry for Punjab for paddy season, when the demand of power is at peak.

According to the latest data released by the Central Water Commission (CWC) on April 17, the combined water storage in key reservoirs of Himachal Pradesh is currently 41.46% below normal, while Punjab is witnessing an even sharper shortfall with water levels 47.28% below average. These figures are based on the average reservoir levels recorded over the last ten years.

In Punjab Ranjit Sagar Dam is 1636.4 feet  is down by 29 feet from last year level of 1665.3 feet

Bhakra reservoir level is 1556.6 feet is down by 14 feet from last year level of 1570.3 feet on corresponding day.

This year, the demand is expected to touch 17,300 Megawatts (MW). Of the total 6,000 to 6,500 MW generated by PSPCL, nearly 1,000 MW comes from hydroelectric plants, which now face uncertainty due to dwindling water reserves. The drawl from grid is 10400 MW.

In Himachal Pradesh, the live storage in major reservoirs—Gobind Sagar, Pong Dam, and Kol Dam—stands at only 2.027 billion cubic metres (BCM), which is just 16.25% of their full reservoir capacity. This marks a steep decline from 28.87% during the same period last year, and below the normal level of 27.76%.

Meanwhile, Punjab’s only reservoir, Ranjit Sagar Dam, is also reporting critically low levels. It currently holds just 0.545 BCM, which is 23.25% of its full capacity of 2.344 BCM. This too is significantly below last year’s storage (42.15%) and the ten-year average of 44.10%.