Country braces for 14% water shortage in Rabi season

Balochistan accuses Sindh of stealing its share of water

ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (Irsa), which is the regulator of water flows in the country, has cautioned that provinces will face 14% water shortage in the Rabi sowing season this year.

The estimate comes in the backdrop of excessive rains and floods over the past few years, which serves as a chilling reminder that the country desperately needs water storages to avoid wastage and meet growing needs of people and farmers.

The Irsa Advisory Committee, which met here on Wednesday, estimated that rivers would have 25.6 million acre feet (maf) of water whereas storages would contain 9.48 maf. It put system losses at 3.28%. In the meeting where representatives of the four provinces were present, Balochistan accused Sindh of stealing its share of water.



According to officials, Balochistan’s Chief Engineer for Irrigation Abdul Sattar alleged that Sindh was stealing 1.5 maf of water for the last six months, causing trouble for farmers in the under-developed province.

He asked the advisory committee to take notice of the alleged theft and come up with a remedy.

The apex body of Irsa suggested that total water availability in the Rabi sowing season, which starts in October, would stand at 31.70 maf. Of this, Punjab’s share would be 17.08 maf, Sindh would receive 12.90 maf, Balochistan would have a share of 1.02 maf and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa would get 0.7 maf.

The estimated water supply in 2015 is lower than the 33.10 maf recorded last year. However, water releases this year will be far better than the average supply in the last 10 years.

The main reason for the water shortage faced by farmers in the Rabi season is the lack of storages as successive governments have not paid attention to the building of dams. Since 2010, the country has been facing floods, but water goes downstream into the sea in the absence of vital storage facilities.

Irsa Chairman Raqeeb Khan, while speaking during the meeting, said the regulator had kept on pressing the government at every forum that new dams were needed to store water as they were the key to solving all water-related problems.

He said Pakistan faced difficulties in meeting the shortage of 4 maf despite the fact that it lost 36 maf in Kotri downstream, ie, sea. “Had steps been taken, the country could have saved 28 maf, which is sufficient to fill three dams,” he remarked.

According to a senior government official, Sindh suggested that instead of 14% water shortage should be projected at 11% or 12% to encourage people to use the vital resource judiciously on the justification that more rains were expected. However, other Irsa members did not endorse the proposal.

They argued that people would consume more water if they were told that shortage would be lower than expected. They, however, allowed Sindh that it could draw its water share in early season in case of need.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 1^st, 2015.

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