Daily Times

KARACHI: A recent spell of heavy rains, especially in the districts of Lasbela and Khuzdar in Balochistan, increased the water level in Hub dam by 20 feet on Friday.

According to officials from the irrigation department, the reservoir’s water level had risen to 298 feet and is expected to further increase due to inflow from the catchment areas in Balochistan and Sindh.

As was reported on Thursday, this considerable increase has infused new life in the Hub dam, which was previously sitting nearly empty because of a years-long dry spell in Balochistan and Sindh. Thousands of kilometres spread over the two provinces feed the catchment areas of the reservoir.

Spread over 24,3000 acres, the Hub dam has a  gross storage capacity of 8,57,000 acre-feet, making it Pakistan’s third largest dam and an important water source. It is located 56 km from Karachi and is also responsible for supplying over 100 million gallons of water daily (mgd) to Karachi via a 30-kilometre-long canal. Thus, its previous low water-level had led to a severe water shortage in the western and central districts of Karachi.

The dought-like conditions, where the rain received during the monsoon season last year was a quarter under the normal level, had dried up nearly 26 square kilometres the dam’s reservoir while the poor maintenance of its ancient structure further resulted in leakages from the water body. Scarce rainfall also dried up the catchment area of the reservoir, which had a total capacity of 339 feet.

The ongoing rains in Balochistan and Sindh have once again enabled the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to resume the city’s water supply. Its officials noted that the water board would start supplying water from the dam over the next few days. As of now, Hub dam can supply nearly 70 mgd to the city for the next year, they added.

It was previously in 2013, when the Hub dam had reached its full capacity, making it possible to fulfil the local water requirements for three years.

The Hub Dam supplies 100 mgd, around 63 per cent of its capacity, to the western and northern districts in Karachi as well as New Karachi in its central district. The remaining 37 per cent of the water is supplied to the district of Lasbela in Balochistan and its surrounding areas for irrigational purposes.