Hub Dam fills to maximum capacity after 13 years

The water level in Hub Dam, which supplies drinking water to Karachi and meets the water needs of several areas in Balochistan, crossed the 339-foot mark on Thursday and filled to its maximum capacity for the first time in 13 years.

The water level in the dam has risen due to the recent spell of torrential rains in Karachi and Sindh and has now begun to flow out from the spillways into the sea near Mubarak Village.

The WAPDA administration had closed the Hub Dam to visitors. However, residents of the settlements around the dam, residents of the Hub Dam Residential Colony, Karachi residents and others have arrived in large numbers in the spillway area, to witness the streams overflowing which look much like waterfalls.

In the catchment area of ​​Hub Dam, which stretches up to the mountain range of Balochistan, the water level has risen to more than 9 feet in three days. 

According to WAPDA sources, more rainwater relays are reaching Hub Dam from the catchment area. To deal with the emergency situation, officials of Hub Dam Management Agency, WAPDA and irrigation officials are present at Hub Dam.

The sources said that the settlements below Hub Dam have been evacuated in case of emergency. The water from the spillways of the dam travels about 60km through the Hub River and falls into the sea. According to sources, more than 30 feet of water has filled into the dam after the recent monsoon rains.

According to WAPDA officer Sohail Siddiqui, the dam last filled to maximum capacity in 2007. 

Read more: Pakistan rain updates: Latest news on monsoon in Karachi and around the country

He said that two canals emerge from the 45km long Hub Dam, one that supplies water that helps Balochistan in fulfilling its agricultural needs while the other supplies western Karachi with 100 million gallons of water daily for drinking and other uses.

Water Board sources told Geo News that this stored water in the dam is enough to supply Karachi for the next three years.