The water in Kaptai Lake is nearing the danger level!

The excessive rainfall and water from India have impacted Kaptai Lake in Rangamati! The water level is rising hourly. As a result, the water is now close to the danger level.

Today, Saturday (August 24), at 11:30 AM, when contacted, ATM Abduzzaher, the manager of Kaptai Hydroelectric Power Plant, said, 

“As of 11 AM today, the water level in Kaptai Lake is 107.43 feet MSL (Mean Sea Level).”

Relevant engineers at the power plant stated, 

“The lake’s water holding capacity is 109 feet (Mean Sea Level), where 108 feet is considered the danger level, and water may be released from Kaptai Lake when it reaches this level. If the water reaches the 108 feet level, the dam authorities may hold a meeting to decide on releasing water.”

They further added that even if water is released,

“It will be done within a limited range.”

The PDB Manager told Siplas (news media),

 “We haven’t yet decided whether water will be released today. And the water release process will be done normally through 16 gates, releasing 6 inches of water each. There’s no reason to panic about this. There’s even no possibility of flooding. It won’t have any impact on the flood-affected areas of Fatikchari, Hathazari, and Feni. However, everyone should remain alert. If the lake’s water level touches 108 feet, then 16 gates of the dam’s spillway might be opened 2 feet, 4 feet, or up to 6 feet each. Sometimes, depending on the water pressure, they open it up to 10 feet. This allows 80,000 cusecs to 200,000 cusecs of water per second to flow from the lake into the Karnaphuli River.”

He further said, 

“We have the capacity to release up to 500,000 cusecs of water.”

According to sources from the power plant’s control room,

Currently, there is more water in the lake than needed according to the rule curve, resulting in the Kaptai Hydroelectric Power Plant producing up to 219 megawatts of electricity from its 5 units. However, it’s possible to produce 230 to 240 megawatts of electricity from the 5 units.”