Kaptai lake water will be released at night, warning issued

Karnaphuli water power plant has decided to release water from the Kaptai lake in Rangamati as the water level has increased due to the torrential rain coming down from upstream and few days of heavy rain.

This information was informed in an urgent message of the Bangladesh Electricity Development Board on Saturday (August 24).

It is said that the water level of Kaptai Lake at 3 pm today is 107.66 feet MSL, which is close to the flood limit, to control the flood in the upstream and downstream areas of the lake, the 16 gates of the spillway will be raised six inches at 10 pm today (Saturday) and drainage will be started. Nine thousand cfs of water will be extracted.

It is further informed that the inflow and rainfall of the lake are being closely monitored at present. If the inflow is high, i.e. the water level rises abnormally, the opening of the spillway gate will be gradually increased. Power is currently being generated through five units, resulting in 32,000 cfs of water being withdrawn.

Incidentally, Kaptai Dam is located in Kaptai Upazila of Rangamati District of Bangladesh and is a dam built on the Karnaphuli River 65 km upstream from Chittagong. It has an artificial reservoir known as Kaptai Lake with a water capacity of 52,51,000 acres (21,25,000 ha). The primary purpose of building the dam and the lake was to generate hydroelectric power. Its construction was completed in 1962. The water stored in the dam is used to generate electricity at the Kaptai hydropower plant. Between 1962 and 1988, generators with a total power generation capacity of 230 MW (3,10,000 horsepower) were installed here. It is the largest dam and the only hydroelectric power station in Bangladesh. Besides, the country's first solar power plant named 'Kaptai 7.4 MW Solar PD Grid Connected Power Plant' was established here. The location of this solar power plant of the Power Development Board is next to the dam inside the water power plant.

Bangladesh /KH