Sindh to oppose Punjab stance on water distribution: Irsa body meeting today

Sindh government has decided to oppose the stance of Punjab on the distribution of irrigation water in the advisory committee meeting of the Indus River Systems Authority to be held on Thursday, December 17, 2009, in Lahore, it is learnt. According to sources, the irrigation and power department has worked out the strategy and would strongly defend Sindh's water case with Irsa.
The irrigation secretaries and water experts of Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and NWFP would attend the meeting that would resolve the issue of fair water distribution among the provinces, they said. Sources said that the meeting of Irsa's advisory committee was cancelled twice, scheduled for December 11 and 15, due to absence of Punjab's irrigation secretary.
The Sindh government had earlier warned that it would approach the Council of Common Interests (CCI) for fair distribution of irrigation water. Now, Punjab government is blackmailing the authorities by warning to approach the CCI forum, they added.
Punjab has been getting irrigation water from the Indus River for its crops, sources said, adding that Sindh government would get back the consumed irrigation water from the Mangla Dam by March 2010, keeping in view the province's water demand. The country is expected to face shortage of water by some 30 percent in the Rabi season, which would badly affect the production of crops throughout the country particularly in Sindh, they said.
Earlier, Irsa had decided distribution of irrigation water on the Historical Basis and fixed 1.72MAF water for Balochistan and NWFP and 24.41MAF for Sindh and Balochistan while the release of water at Kotri downstream would be 0.2MAF.
Sindh had rejected water distribution on the Historical Basis and decided to approach the CCI for fair distribution of water, they said. Sources said that Sindh had long been demanding of the federal government to ensure implementation of the Water Accord, 1991 since past many years but now the Punjab government was reluctant to accept implementation of Accord.