Khanpur Dam, which supplies water to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and Rawalpindi, is drying up rapidly. There is only 35 days of water left in it. This dam also supplies water for irrigation to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
Now only 35 days of water is left in Khanpur Dam, which supplies water to Pakistan’s capital Islamabad and neighboring Rawalpindi city. From this dam, water also goes to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces for irrigation of fields. Ghazi Barotha Dam is built on the Indus River, about 100 kilometers ahead of Islamabad, and Khanpur Dam, built on the Haro River, which falls into the Indus, is near Islamabad. There is not enough rainfall in the catchment area of Khanpur Dam (the area from which rain water comes), due to which an average of 82 cusecs of water is coming into the dam every day whereas to maintain the supply, 235 cusecs of water has to be released.
According to the report of Pakistani newspaper Dawn, there is only 25 feet more water left in Khanpur Dam than the dead level. Khanpur Dam, built on the Haro River, receives water from the Margalla Hills and Galyat Hill areas of Islamabad. It is not raining properly, due to which the water level is continuously going down. The dam management has told Pakistani media that if the situation does not improve within a week, then the supply of water for irrigation to Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will have to be stopped, while the supply of drinking water to Islamabad and Rawalpindi will have to be cut.
Currently, 90 cusecs of water is being sent to Islamabad, 48 cusecs to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 42 cusecs to Punjab from Khanpur Dam. The dam management plans to impose water rationing if it does not rain in a week and the water level does not rise. Meaning, the water available will be used to supply drinking water to Islamabad and Rawalpindi. Irrigation water will not be given priority. Islamabad and Rawalpindi are twin cities, whose drinking water supply comes from Khanpur Dam, Simli Dam, Ghazi Barotha Dam and Rawal Lake.
Let us tell you that India has suspended the Indus Water Treaty after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, but it has nothing to do with the drying up of Khanpur Dam. Khanpur Reservoir is built on the Haro River which flows much further and joins the Indus River.