Punjab govt to discuss Bhakra Dam security amid terror threat

In the wake of reports of a terror threat to the 225-metre high Bhakra Dam, the Punjab government has called an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss measures relating to its security.

“Punjab chief secretary has called an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss the security situation of Bhakra Dam. All the member states and senior officials of BBMB, including its chairman, will participate in this meeting,” GS Wassan, director (security), Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), told IANS Monday.

He added: “Various security concerns will be discussed in this meeting and our future strategy will be designed accordingly. Earlier, Himachal Pradesh government had also called such a meeting. Besides Bhakra Dam, we will also discuss security of other dams.”

Bhakra Dam is located nearly 20 km from Nangal town in Punjab. The dam on river Sutlej is in Himachal Pradesh along the hill state’s border with Punjab, around 130 km from here.

The Bhakra Dam is crucial for power generation and water supply to northern states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Earlier, security at the Bhakra Dam was beefed up in March 2009 following reports from central intelligence agencies that terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) intended to target the mega hydro-electric project.

The recent specific intelligence reports said that the dam is high on the latest hit-list of Pakistan-based terrorist outfits like LeT and the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).

The Bhakra Dam, India's first and biggest hydro-electric project, was described by former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru as the temple of resurgent India.

Its maximum storage capacity of water is 1,680 feet. However, due to consistent rainfall in Punjab and uphill areas of Himachal Pradesh, there is plenty of water in Bhakra Dam this year.

“Today the water level at Bhakra Dam has touched 1,612.57 feet, whereas it was 1,565.80 feet on the same day last year,” said the official spokesman of Punjab government Monday.