Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 1: Minister for Jal Shakti Javed Ahmad Rana today informed the House that due to persistently low temperatures during winter, the gauge readings at the Sangam monitoring station in the Jhelum River basin remained around one foot for most of the season.
The Minister stated this while replying to a Calling Attention motion moved by MLA Zadibal Tanvir Sadiq in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly during the ongoing Budget Session.
He said that snowmelt in the Jhelum River generally becomes noticeable during March and April as temperatures begin to rise.
Following the recent spell of rainfall, the gauge level at the Sangam monitoring station has been recorded at around seven feet.
He added that the contribution of snowmelt in river runoff typically continues till the end of May, provided there are no intermediate weather disturbances. With the arrival of the monsoon in late June or early July, runoff levels in water bodies increase again.
The Minister further informed that the Directorate of Ecology, Environment and Remote Sensing (DEERS) has prepared a Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) report, which provides a preliminary vulnerability assessment of downstream habitations and bridges using basic GIS analysis. The draft report is presently under consultation.
He said that although the Irrigation & Flood Control (I&FC) Department, Kashmir does not have a direct mandate to assess GLOF risks, the Morphology and Climate Directorate of the Central Water Commission (CWC) is monitoring the glacial lakes and water bodies across the Himalayan and Tibetan regions that drain into India and regularly uploads monitoring reports on its website.
Highlighting the flood monitoring mechanism, the Minister said that in the Jhelum basin, the I&FC Department has installed 22 Automatic Water Level Recorder (AWLR) sensors and 8 rain gauges at key nodal points across the valley to record hourly water level round the clock. The data helps generate flood forecasts and advance warnings, enabling the administration to take timely preventive measures during flood situations.
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