HARIPUR / HYDERABAD: Tarbela Dam authorities opened its spillways on Sunday afternoon to discharge excess water and create space for anticipated inflows over the next 24 to 48 hours, official sources said.

The sources told Dawn that the spillways were opened at around 2:30pm following an alert issued by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), with inflows expected to range between 160,000 and 260,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs).

As of Sunday afternoon, the actual inflow was recorded at 210,000 cusecs while the outflow stood at 153,000 cusecs.

Sources said that daily discharges of 90,000 to 150,000cusecs were being made with the approval of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) to relieve pressure on the reservoir as monsoon flows continue.

Officials said that the safety of the dam`s structure remains the top priority. Due to heavy rainfall forecasted in northern areas and upper Hazara, which are catchment zones for the Indus River, authorities sought Irsa`s approval to pre-emptively discharge water so that the pressure on the structure could be avoided by creating space for new inflows.

`All 14 spillway gates were opened from afternoon to evening to release 153,000 cusecs of water,` an official said. On Sunday evening, the reservoirlevelstood at 1,526.35 feet.

Every year, the 250sq-km Tarbela Dam reaches its maximum conservation level of 1,550 feet by Aug 20, leading to spillway operations. But the authorities had to start discharge operations in the second week of July due to the forecast of heavy rains.Meanwhile, the PDMA issued a flood alert warning of potential flooding along the Indus River and its tributaries. Residents and tourists downstream were advised to stay away from the riverbanks.

The Haripur district administration was directed to keep the public informed and asked fishermen and livestock owners to relocate to safer areas.

Guddu, Sukkur, Kotri, Taunsa The river flows at major barrages across Sindh also showed significant increases on Sunday.

Guddu and Sukkur barrages remained at low flood levels, while upstream flows at Kotri improved following a period of severe water shortage in its four off-taking canals.

Guddu barrage recorded an inflow of 353,887 cusecs and a downstream discharge of 315,588 cusecs at 6am on Sunday. Sukkur barrage recorded 265,050 cusecs inflow and 211,800 cusecs discharge at the same time. Kotri barrage showed a moderate recov-ery, with 68,490 cusecs upstream and 26,045 cusecs downstream discharge.

At Taunsa barrage, the Indus River remained in medium flood, registering an inflow of 411,930 cusecs and a downstream flow of 398,930 cusecs at 6am on July 13.

According to Abdul Aziz Soomro, the official in charge of the Sukkur Barrage control room, improved inflows from the upper catchments of the Indus have enhanced river flows, though water levels in the Chenab and Jhelum rivers remain normal.

He said Tarbela Dam is nearing its full storage level of 1,550 feet, with a recorded storage of 1,525.52 feet on July 13, and it is likely to attain full storage level by midAugust. Meanwhile, Mangla Dam reached a storage level of 1,184.5 feet, with an inflow of 23,369 cusecs and an outflow of 8,000 cusecs.

Muhammad Sadagat in Haripur and Muhammad Hussain Khan in Hyderabad contributed to this report