Rangamati, August 8 (V7N) — In response to rapidly rising water levels in the Kaptai Lake, authorities at the Kaptai Karnaphuli Hydroelectric Power Station opened all 16 spillway gates by 3.5 feet each on Thursday evening, releasing approximately 68,000 cusecs of water per second into the Karnaphuli River.

Confirming the action, Executive Engineer and Station Manager Mahmud Hasan stated at 7:00 PM that the water level in the lake stood at 108.83 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL), which is significantly above the danger level. The reservoir’s maximum capacity is 109 feet MSL.

“With continuous rainfall in the upstream region and rapid inflow from the hill streams, the lake's water level has been increasing moment by moment,” said Hasan. “Initially, on the night of August 5, we opened the gates by six inches. As the water continued to rise, we successively raised the gate levels to 1.5 feet, then 2.5 feet, then 3 feet. As of this evening, we had to open them 3.5 feet to manage the situation.”

Engineers at the dam’s control room also reported that all five power generation units at the facility are currently operational. Through these units alone, an additional 32,000 cusecs of water is being discharged per second into the Karnaphuli River.

Authorities are closely monitoring the situation, and cautionary alerts have been issued to downstream communities due to the increased outflow.

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