Punjab and Sindh provinces are again at loggerhead over distribution of Indus River water during the sowing, growing and maturing of 2010-2011 winter crops including wheat, oil seeds, maize, vegetables and fodder crops.
The Punjab Irrigation Department sources told Business Recorder here on Monday that it has written two letters to Indus River System Authority (IRSA) to point out that Sindh government has been wasting several millions of acre ft (MAF) precious irrigation water by throwing it into the Indus delta/Arabian sea.
It said Sindh has been discharging 15,000 to 30,000 cusecs water downstream the Kotri barrage during the past two months into the wasteland instead of using it for sowing and growing the Rabbi crops. The current daily water releases from Tarbela dam is up to 70,000 cusecs should have been reduced to the minimum and conserved in the dam for the release during the water deficit months of March and April for maturing the Rabbi crops, they added.
One the other hand, sources further said, Sindh government has again objected to reopening of 20,000 cusecs Chashma Jhelum link canal whereby Punjab is drawing 9,000 cusecs water for sowing Rabbi crops in south Punjab. Sindh government has written to IRSA to close the controversial canal.
It may be added that on the intervention of the federal government, Punjab and Sindh had earlier reached an agreement over the distribution of water on the basis of the provinces' crop-specific needs during the sowing season. The experts from both Punjab and Sindh had realised that water was the 'collective asset' of all provinces and a province specific stance should not be taken over the issues, particularly the CJ Link Canal.
Punjab Irrigation Consultant and canal regulator M.H. Siddiqui told this scribe that Punjab was drawing 26,000 cusecs water from the Indus Zone (Indus River) out of which 9,000 cusecs water is being discharged into Chashma Jhelum link Canal, Thal canal 7,000 cusecs. DG Khan canal 4,000 cusecs, TP link canal 2,300 cusecs, Muzaffargarh canal 2,500 cusecs and other canals 3,650 cusecs for irrigating south Punjab.
Siddiqui said Punjab has been drawing 34,000 cusecs water from the Jhelum river and 10,100 cusecs run of the river Chenab water to run all the non-perennial canals of south Punjab to full their capacity for two weeks from 11th November to 25th November to provide maximum water for sowing Rabbi crops on maximum acreage in the province.
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