Additional 250MW of power generation starts
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has agreed to release more water from Tarbela and Mangla dams for generating an additional 250 megawatts (MW) of electricity from Wednesday. This would reduce the existing electricity shortage from 600MW to 350MW.
This was decided in a meeting between Water and Power Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi and the IRSA chairman and members on Wednesday. The meeting assessed the possibility of release of additional water from Tarbela and Mangla dams for additional power generation in view of the forced outage of a number of plants of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) at Guddu, Jamshoro and Tarbela. The IRSA officials agreed to start instant provision of additional water for power generation.
The IRSA chairman told the meeting that currently the total available water was 5.12 million acre feet (MAF), which was six times more than the previous year. He said that the water level at Tarbela and Mangla was 17 feet and 13 feet above the maximum estimated levels and inflows at both dams were good.
Good news but could this only be temporary?