The Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) has sought to dispel concerns regarding the safety of the Bhakra Dam, asserting that recent reports linking increased dam deflection to structural risks and silt accumulation are misleading.
Senior BBMB officials have maintained that the dam remains safe and that the observed deflection is a normal engineering phenomenon associated primarily with reservoir water levels.
Speaking to The Tribune, Bhakra Dam Chief Engineer CP Singh said the maximum recorded deflection of the dam reached 1.1770 inches in November 2025. While this exceeded the dam’s original design deflection limit of 1.03 inches under normal loading conditions, it remained well within the permissible seismic design limit of 1.53 inches.
According to Singh, the designed deflection threshold of 1.03 inches was first crossed in 1995 and has since been exceeded on 15 occasions over the last three decades.
He emphasised that such measurements are closely linked to fluctuations in reservoir levels and do not by themselves indicate any threat to the dam’s structural integrity.
“The loading of the dam structure increases during the filling period when reservoir levels rise and decreases during the depletion period when water levels recede," Singh explained. He added that the current deflection of the dam has reduced significantly and presently stands at about 0.699 inches.
The chief engineer said that the pattern of reservoir operations during the last five years has contributed to relatively higher baseline deflection levels. He said the reservoir has not been depleted below around 1,550 feet in recent years, compared to the minimum reservoir level of 1,462 feet. As a result, the dam structure has not returned completely to its original position during the depletion cycle.
“When the minimum deflection remains higher, the maximum deflection recorded during the subsequent filling season also tends to remain elevated," Singh said.
BBMB officials clarified that several factors influence dam deflection apart from water loading. These include temperature variations, rainfall in the dam region, and spillway operation. Singh said the dam recorded comparatively higher deflection levels last year because reservoir levels were maintained at high levels for nearly a month.
Addressing speculation regarding the role of silt accumulation in the reservoir, the Chief Engineer rejected claims that sedimentation was exerting pressure on the dam structure. He said studies indicate that while siltation has reduced the overall storage capacity of the Gobind Sagar reservoir by about 26 per cent and active storage by around 19 per cent, it has no direct impact on the deflection of the concrete dam.
“The silt deposits are located nearly 10 kilometres away from the dam structure and do not exert any significant pressure on the dam. Deflection is linked primarily to water loading and operational factors, not sediment accumulation," he said.
CP Singh further said that an independent panel of experts inspected the Bhakra Dam in February 2026 and declared the structure safe. The board has also signed an MoU with IIT Roorkee and international experts to undertake a detailed scientific study of the deflection behaviour of the dam and recommend measures, if required.
The BBMB maintained that the dam’s behaviour continues to be monitored through an extensive instrumentation and surveillance system and that all observed parameters remain within safe limits.
