The technical committee of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Tuesday failed to finalise anticipated water shortage for the upcoming Kharif season as Punjab and Wapda rejected the Irsa estimates of 3.5 percent to 4 percent shortage, saying that the shortage would be between 7 percent to 10 percent.
The technical committee meeting of the Irsa was held here under the chairmanship of Amanullah Khan, Chief Engineer (Operations), Irsa.
An official of the Irsa told newsmen after the meeting that the technical committee deliberated on the working paper prepared by Irsa regarding water availability for the coming Kharif season.
Besides the chief engineer, the meeting was attended by Consultant, I&P Department, Government of Punjab, M.H. Siddiqui, Chief Engineer (H&WM), Wapda, Director I&P Department Punjab, Director, I&P Department, Government of Sindh, Superintendent Engineer, Pat Feeder Canal Balochistan and Superintendent Engineer, Irrigation, Peshawar.
The official said that Irsa has presented its anticipated water shortage for the provinces during Kharif season starting from April 1. According to the authority's estimates water shortage during Kharif will be 3.5 percent to 4 percent.
According to Punjab and Wapda, water shortage would be 7 percent to 10 percent.
It was decided in the meeting that the issue would be discussed in the Irsa meeting during the next two days before giving it a final shape.
It was also decided in the meeting that water distribution would continue on the basis of historical formula basis till the final decision by the government or the committees constituted for this purpose.
The meeting also accepted Sindh's demand for release of their Kharif share in advance. Punjab has asked Irsa to provide surety for availability of their share.
It was also decided that the water above the requirements of the provinces would be stored in dams. However, it would not be possible to store water in dams till August, the official said.
Some useful inputs regarding Rim Station water availability probabilities, provided by the participants, was also considered during the meeting.
The forecast for the Kharif season, prepared by Irsa, was generally agreed upon with very minor alterations, based on data provided by different members of the committee.
It was unanimously decided that this would be incorporated while reviewing the calculation of the water availability forecast, which is to be prepared for the forthcoming advisory committee meeting.
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