Jammu, February 22 Decades after key sediment management facilities were rendered inoperable under the Indus Waters Treaty, the reservoir of the Salal power station has suffered a dramatic loss of storage, up to 96 percent, prompting NHPC to launch a silt management plan at the facility to ensure sustained operational efficiency.
According to official documents, the NHPC-run Salal concrete dam was originally designed with six under-sluices (gates located at the base of a dam) and six silt-excluder gates (silt-stopping structures) to manage sediment. However, following the treaty signed in 1960 and a subsequent agreement in 1978, the six under-sluices were permanently plugged, and operation of the silt-excluder gates was prohibited, it said.
"In the absence of any sediment-management facilities, silt started accumulating in the reservoir thereafter," an official said.
As a result, the reservoir's original storage capacity of 284 million cubic metres (MCM) has dwindled to just 9.91 MCM, as recorded in a bathymetric survey conducted in May 2025, it added.
Officials said that a three-pronged plan is being undertaken for the first time after the suspension of the treaty last year.
"We are working under an effective silt management plan to ensure the operational effectiveness of the power station. One of the activities under this is dredging, through which we are trying to remove silt from the dam," Salal Power Station Executive Director Anish Gouraha told