The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Saturday accused each other for not communicating their water release plans in time, which not only led to confusion but also to loadshedding.
"Officials of both organisations accused each other for not submitting their plans well in time which disrupted power generation and water releases," said an official close to Water and Power Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi.
Wapda said that Irsa was not communicating its water release plans which disturbs power generation and ultimately the utility manages the shortfall through load-shedding, but the representative of Irsa set aside the observation, saying why Wapda was not following regulations, the official said.
The official said that Minister took strong exception of impasse and advised all departments to fully comply with regulations and orders issued by Irsa and added that provinces and the water regulatory body should communicate their schedule well in advance, preferably 48 hours, so that Wapda could convert to thermal power to meet the demand.
The issue of telemetry system also came under discussion and, according to an official statement issued by the ministry, all provinces had expressed concern and pressed for accurate and early restoration of the system.
According to the statement, Jatoi said that the government was fully committed to provide due share of water to provinces for Rabi sowing season 2005 and assured the provinces that there would be no injustice in distribution of water amongst the provinces.
It was mutually agreed with consensus that there would be no shortage of water for Rabi sowing season as adequate storage water was available.
He directed the provinces to submit their indents to Irsa for Rabi and directed Irsa to review the indents of the provinces and meet full Rabi sowing requirements.
The water situation will be reviewed by Irsa in the first week of December and the plan of distribution for the remaining crop period.
The meeting also discussed repair plan of Taunsa Barrage in detail and unanimously agreed that the repairs should be carried out urgently in the national interest. It was agreed by Punjab and all the other provinces that the indenting point for Sindh and Balochistan will be Guddu Barrage instead of Chashma Barrage during the closure period of Taunsa Barage. Any additional losses of water due to re-routing of water will be borne by the Punjab.
The meeting was attended by Adviser to Ministry of Water and Power, Riaz Ahmed Khan, Secretary, Water and Power, Ashfaq Mehmood, Provincial Ministers for Irrigation from Sindh, Punjab and Irrigation secretaries of Balochistan and NWFP, Irsa Chairman along with Members, Member (Water) Wapda, and senior officials of Ministry, Irsa and the provinces.
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