Water: Supply to lower Punjab suspended

Water supply to agricultural lands in lower Punjab has been suspended for 15 days due to scarcity of water in canals.

MULTAN: Water supply to agricultural lands in lower Punjab has been suspended for 15 days due to the scarcity of water in canals.

Water level has decreased to 34,000 cusecs at Taunsa, the major water source for land irrigation in southern Punjab. Approximately 68 per cent cultivation in this area is done with the help of water from these canals. Furthermore, farmers of the region are not prepared to cope with water shortage.

Meanwhile, unscheduled power outages  have increased to around eight hours in urban areas and 10 to 12 hours or even more in some of the rural areas making it difficult to irrigate land through tube wells.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2011.