Kulekhani Dam at Risk of Overflow; Residents Warned of Possible Gate Opening

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The Makwanpur administration office has asked the residents of the lower coastal areas to be cautious as the Kulekhani reservoir in Indrasarovar Rural Municipality is about to fill up due to incessant rain.

As Kulekhani Dam is in full condition, there may be an overflow and the dam gates will have to be opened at any time, so the residents of the downstream areas have been requested to be cautious . Residents living in the downstream areas from Kulekhani to Kulekhani are requested to be on high alert and security personnel and volunteers to be on high alert as well.

The reservoir of Kulekhani, which is the “backup” of the Nepal Electricity Authority, has become full due to continuous rain in the catchment area . 1,527.10 centimeters of water has been collected in Kulekhani reservoir till 7 o’clock on Friday. Kulekhani Reservoir Indrasarovar has a capacity of 1,530 meters of water. Now after collecting about 3 meters of water, Indrasarovar will be filled.

‘If water continues to fall in the catchment area as it is now, the Kulekhani reservoir will be filled overnight,’ said Tara Dutt Bhatt, the head of Kulekhani First Hydro Power Project, ‘If the Kulekhani reservoir is full, the dam gates will have to be opened .’ He said the siren would sound when the door was opened. According to the project, electricity was generated until the water level dropped to 1,483,900 centimeters. Kulekhani Reservoir has a water level of 1,483 meters as the last point.

Electricity cannot be generated once the water level drops to 1,483 meters. If the reservoir’s water had not been used almost to its last point, the Kulekhani reservoir would have been full by now,” an engineer from the project said. “This year, the Kulekhani reservoir will fill up

Daman, Palung, Bajrabarahi, Chitlang of Thaha Municipality located in the northern region of Makwanpur, and Markhu and Fakhel of Indrasarovar Rural Municipality are watershed areas of the reservoir. Heavy rainfall is currently occurring in the watershed area