MIRPUR (AJK)-Azad Kashmir, where the largest reservoir of the country Mangla Dam is situated, has been suffering at least 12-hour a day loadshedding for many days as hydropower generation has almost come to a halt at Mangla, Terbela and Ghazi Barotha dams.
The fall in power generation is due to a drastic slash in water level in the reservoirs following the complete lack of much-awaited rains on the upper reaches of the country, sources said. “Yes, the power distributing agencies including the AJK Electricity Department have to observe the forced loadshedding of electricity following an exceptional gap between demand and supply,” said an official of the State Electricity Department with condition of anonymity while talking to this Correspondent.
The state-run AJK Electricity Department is the power distribution agency in Azad Jammu & Kashmir which is assigned to manage the supply of power to the consumers across the AJK territory being the main consumer of various power distributing agencies including IESCO, GEPCO, PESCO operating in Azad Jammu & Kashmir.
“We are legally bound to observe the loadshedding of power in Azad Jammu & Kashmir by strictly following the schedule imposed by Wapda,” the official said. In Mangla Dam, the water level was reported to 1100.55 feet against the maximum conservation level of 1242 feet with live storage 0.630 million acre feet (MAF) on Tuesday. The minimum operating level of water in Mangla reservoir is 1,040 feet.
Similarly, in Tarbela Dam, the present water level is 1420.86 feet against the maximum conservation level of 1,550 feet with live storage of 0.731 million acre feet (MAF). The minimum operating level is 1,380 feet. Meanwhile, the position of the river inflows and outflows at Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma along with the reservoirs levels and the barrages remained on Tuesday as under :-
In River Indus at Tarbela, the inflow is 17100 cusecs and Outflows 10000 cusecs, in Kabul at Nowshera, inflow 8600 cusecs and outflow 8600 cusecs; in Jhelum at Mangla, inflow is 5800 cusecs and outflow 10000 cusecs; in Chenab at Marala, Inflow is 4900 cusecs and outflow 4900 cusecs.
In Jinnah Barrages, inflow is 29300 cusecs and outflow 23100 cusecs; in Chashma, inflow is 14300 cusecs and outflow 12000 cusecs; in Taunsa, inflow is 13600 cusecs and outflow is 13600 cusecs; in Panjnad, inflow is 3100 cusecs and outflow 3100 cusecs; in Guddu, inflow 21200 cusecs and outflow 20100 cusecs; in Sukkur, Inflow 19000 cusecs and outflow nil; in Kotri, inflow 2100 cusecs and outflow is 2100 cusecs.
In Tarbela, minimum operating level is 1380 feet, present level 1420.86 feet, maximum conservation level 1550 feet and live storage 0.731 million acre feet (MAF). In Mangla, minimum operating level is 1040 feet, present level 1100.55 feet, maximum conservation level 1242 feet, live storage is 0.630 MAF. In Chashma, minimum operating level is 637 feet, present level 639.20 feet, maximum conservation level 649 feet, live storage is 0.026 MAF.
DR REHANA AWARDED: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) declared Dr Rehana Asghar, the dean faculty of sciences at Mirpur University of Science and Technology (MUST), the best teacher of the year for 2015.
The award was presented to her in a ceremony held at the HEC by State Minister Balighur Rehman. She already enjoys the distinction to be the holder of a number of other honours to her credit. She did her MSc in Botany from the University of Balochistan in 1st position. In recognition of her outstanding research work in the field of Botany, she was awarded the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Award. The Syndicate of the University of Balochistan had resolved to pass a vote of appreciation in her favour for having obtained TWAS Award some years ago.
She did her MS and PhD from the University of California USA, during her post-doctoral studies; she worked as research associate in the same university. She received the Honour Society of Agriculture ‘Gamma Sigma Delta’ from USA in recognition of her high scholarship and outstanding achievements in the field of Agriculture Sciences in 1990.