Water-level in Tehri dam at dangerous level

After the killer floods in June, heavy rains in the upper Himalayas is a cause of worry for the administration in Uttarakhand as the water-level in the country’s highest dam Tehri inches towards danger mark.

The state administration is monitoring the water level so that it does not cross the danger level of 825 metres and has released 572 cusecs of water on Monday. The water level has touched 816.7 metres on Monday afternoon while it was 815.35 metres on Saturday evening.

Officials are keeping their fingers crossed as they expect heavy rain during night and put up a monitoring mechanism to regulate the water level in the dam in Tehri Garhwal district. The weatherman has predicted heavy rains for the next two days.

District Magistrate Nitesh Kumar Jha has already alerted the district administration in downstream Dehradun and Haridwar about the releasing of water from the dam.

On Monday, officials told Deccan Herald over the phone from Tehri Garhwal that they are continuously releasing water to ensure that the water level in the dam is kept below the danger mark.

Though officials said the situation is not dangerous now, they fear that the situation could go out of hand if the water level rises above the danger mark.

Special team

Jha has already set up a three-member team – subdivisional  magistrate, executive engineer (rehabilitation) and an official of the Tehri project – to monitor the situation.

Officials said if more water is released from the dam, it would flow down through Alakananda and Dev Prayag rivers. “We have alerted the administration in Dehradun and Haridwar to take steps. There could be a rise in water levels of rivers downstream leading to floods and landslide,” they said.

Major rivers in the state are flowing close to the danger mark following heavy rain. The Bhagirathi river in Uttarkashi was flowing at 1,120.77 metres, less than three metres below the danger mark, whereas the Mandakini in Rudraprayag district was flowing at 623.70 m, about three notches below the danger mark.

The state had in June witnessed one of the worst tragedies after floods took away hundreds of lives.