Sindh and Punjab may yet again be at loggerheads over the supply of water after the Sindh government sent a letter to the Indus River System Authority – the governing body on the country’s river water resources – asking for Punjab to be supplied water from the Mangla Dam rather than the Tarbela Dam.
Sources told The Express Tribune that the Sindh government fears that supplying water for Punjab from Tarbela Dam will drastically reduce the water levels at the reservoir and may cause a water shortage of up to 40% for the rabi (winter) growing season.
“Irsa should stop water releases to Punjab from Tarbela dam through the Chashma Jhelum canal and the Taunsa-Panjnad Canal in a bid to fill the dam to meet requirements of Rabi Season,” said the Sindh government in its letter.
Punjab normally uses water stored in Mangla Dam and other three provinces – Sindh, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan – use water from Tarbela dam. The reasons for this are technical: Sindh cannot be supplied from Mangla dam owing to the fact that the water losses along the way would amount to between 70% and 80%, making the option unviable in a country that has scarce water resources.
Irsa is currently releasing about 13,000 cubic feet per second (cusec) of water to Punjab from the Tarbela dam and allowing water to fill the Mangla dam.
Both Tarbela and Mangla – the largest dams in the country – are below the levels they were at during the same period last year, despite the recent rainfall.
The water level at Tarbela was at 1,492 feet on Thursday, compared to 1,528 feet last during the same time year. The average water level at Tarbela over the last decade has been 1,515 feet. Mangla is at similarly depleted levels, at 1,197 feet compared to 1,206 feet last year.
“Irsa should stop filling Mangla Dam and release water from it to meet the requirements of Punjab province,” said the Sindh government in its letter.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 5th, 2011.
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@kla thank you for acknowledging that punjab is so powerful..didnt felt offended by ur comment it jst shows that u hate ur province for not being like punjab ..punjab was not presented to pakistan in a golden dish in 1947...we punjabis made punjab prosperous and the most powerful one.. if u cant make ur province better ...then there is no mistake of punjab
balochistan has oil, coastal areas more over gwadar!!..why not make gwadar a kind of dubai??? sindh ..oil, gas, coal, coastal areas..develop them!! KPK+GB...mountains lakes natural beauty ...develop tourism!! blame game wont do anything good...=)
Its funny they understand the use of dams and yet are against it
@pakman: I agree with your last statement, which says it all. The military dictators did not rule as individuals but as an institution. That is why there has never been any serious attempt of a counter coup by the military. Everybody was always taken care of properly as one institution. I have not seen any mention of "Sind Tas Agreement" in which Dictator Gen Ayub has given all the rivers to India except Sind and Jhelum. Dictator Gen Ayub thus changed "Punjab into Doab". However, the powrful media and political parties do not talk about this issue as if there is a gag order against it? Let us discuss why the nuclear knowhow is not being used to benefit the public or power production? Why a single officer of the armed forces ever been tried for any crime? Thanks and regards, Mirza
@kla The dictator who shifted capital was - from KPK/NWFP - not Punjab. 3 out of the 4 dictators were non-Punjabis. Ayub, Yaha were Pathans, and Musharraf was Mohajir. Only Zia was Punjabi Mohajir. Most of our problems have roots in the era of these dictators.
@kla: I am myself Sindhi, but absurd comments forced me to raise my voice. Wake up!
frankly speaking - punjabis r the reason for most of the problem 2day. they r powerful in burecracy from 1947 till 2day. they ve shifted capital from karachi to islamabad (against jinna wishes) even if ppp rules officially real rulers r punjabis.