Tehri dam authorities prevented heavy floods in Rishikesh and Haridwar by storing most of the water that came gushing down the Bhagirathi and its tributaries a few days ago.

The water inflow into the dam from Bhagirathi and its tributaries reached about 7,000 cumecs of which a mere 500 cumecs was released. The remaining 6,500 cumecs of water was stored, said a senior official of the Tehri Hydro Development Corporation on Wednesday.

If the whole water inflow from the Bhagirathi had been released, it could have caused an additional rise in the water level. In that case Rishikesh, where the Ganga was flowing 2 metres above the danger level, would have risen by an additional 3 metres.

Above danger level

In Haridwar too, where the Ganga was flowing 1.5 metres above the danger level, it would have been above 3 metres. As a result, the Tehri Dam Project proved a saviour in flood control, the official said.

While most power projects in Uttarakhand have stopped generation due to heavy silt depositing in the turbines, the Tehri and Koteshwar dams continue to generate power as usual because they are reservoir storage projects, said an official.