Sindh, Punjab to witness 21% water shortage: IRSA

ISLAMABAD: After a treacherous power mess up in the country, available water for irrigation purposes is undergoing a crisis-like situation as the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) on Monday declared 21 percent water shortage in Punjab and Sindh during the second quarter of calendar year 2012 for Kharif season.
IRSA's technical committee meeting, which was held here at the authority's secretariat with chief engineer Yasmeen Rehman in chair, expressed serious reservations over lesser availability of water for irrigation purposes in the upcoming Kharif season.
Sources in IRSA revealed that two major agricultural hubs, Punjab and Sindh could face water shortage of up to 21 percent during April to June 10 of ongoing calendar year. The authority linked this worsen water situation with global climate changes.
According to IRSA spokesman Khalid Rana, basic reason for lesser availability of water was because of unusual decline in temperature, however this situation could move towards betterment after mid-April with the rising temperature.
While quoting preliminary estimates, Rana maintained that during the upcoming Kharif season, the authority would ensure the water availability for irrigation purposes. In Punjab 9 million acres feet (MAF), 5.6 MAF to Sindh, 0.282 MAF for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 0.6 MAF water would be available for Balochistan during the Kharif season.
The recommendation of IRSA technical committee would be submitted before advisory committee on March 30 to finalise the water availability plan for Kharif season, while to review the water situation in reservoirs and rivers, next meeting of IRSA technical committee would be summoned at end of second quarter of fiscal year 2011-12.
The State Bank of Pakistan claimed that most of the major Kharif crops including cotton, rice and sugarcane could perform strongly according to preliminary estimates, while recent and previous floods improved soil moisture that would improve the performance of these crops, however it all depends on enough water availability.
The Cotton Crop Assessment Committee (CCAC) maintained, the estimated crop size was 12.6 million bales, against the target of 12.8 million bales during calendar year 2011, production estimates for rice vary in the range of 6.2 million tonnes to 7.2 million tonnes, surrounding this year's official target of 6.6 million tonnes and significantly above the 4.8 million tonnes produced last year.
The information collected from the provinces suggests a crop size of 6.2 million tonnes, whereas US Department of Agriculture (USDA) projects Pakistan's rice production at 6.55 million tonnes. Estimates provided by SUPARCO are on the higher side at 7.2 million tonnes.
According to water situation report, on Indus system, 24,000 cusecs water inflow was recorded in Terbella and outflow from the dam up to 23,300 cusecs, similarly on upper stream of Kalabagh, water discharge was recorded up to 31,932 cusecs and discharge on down stream was recorded up to 27,932 cusecs while remaining water of 4,000 cusecs was diverted to Thal canal.
At head of Taunsa, 28,844 water discharge was recorded on upper stream of Taunsa, while same volume of 28,844 cusecs water discharge was recorded on down stream, not a single cusec of water could be diverted to Taunsa-Punjanad Link Canal, Muzafargarh canal and Dera Ghazi Khan canal. On Jehlum River, 26,424 cusecs water outflow was recorded in Mangla Dam against the inflow of 25,533 cusecs. At Chashma water inflow was recorded at 25,720 cusecs against outflow of 21,520 cusecs, while remaining 4,200 cusecs water was diverted to Chashma Right Bank Canal.
As such, total rim station outflows were recorded up to 80,169 cusecs against the total inflows in rim stations up to 79,978 cusecs in the water system of the country.
End.