Kharif crops: 113 MAF water to be available to provinces: Irsa

Indus River System Authority (Irsa) Chairman Bashir Ahmad Dahar said on Tuesday that provinces had agreed with Irsa estimates of 113 MAF water will be available for distribution among the provinces during the coming Kharif season.
However, Sindh objected to these estimates at a meeting of Irsa Technical Committee. According to an official, Sindh was of the view that around 115 MAF water will be available during Kharif and that was why Sindh rejected that water should not be provided to the provinces on the basis of water availability during the years 1977-1982, which is also called three-tier formula.
Sindh is of the view that possible water shortage should be distributed on the basis of Para 2 Water Accord, 1991. Sources said that the provinces have been informed that they would receive water as per three-tier formula and not under Para 2 of the Water Accord, 1991 during the Kharif season. The Authority technical committee met under the chairmanship of Irsa Chief Engineer Aurangzeb Khan Khatak.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, the Irsa chief said the technical committee has anticipated 113 MAF water availability for Kharif crops and the water would be provided to the provinces on three-tier formula that was agreed in the advisory committee meeting in 2003. He said that 27.9 MAF water would be available to the provinces for Kharif crops during the early Kharif season whereas 85.8 MAF water would be given to the provinces in the mid-Kharif season.
Bashir said that provinces would present the water requirement plan in the meeting of the Authority advisory committee that will be held on March 31. During the advisory committee meeting, the water share of the provinces would be finalised based on the anticipated 113 MAF water availability.
He said during the current winter, the country had experienced less snowfall that would cause alarming situation of water scarcity. He said that Irsa had asked the meteorological department to update about the water availability through snowfall melting during the Kharif season.
He said the Authority was not storing water in Tarbela and as soon as the situation becomes better, the storing would be started. He said that water inflow in all the rivers had gone to the lowest level of 63,000 cusecs per day against 173,000 cusecs last year. The water inflow in Indus stood at 20,000 cusecs against 31,500 cusecs last year whereas the inflow in Kabul River was 11,000 cusecs against 45,000 cusecs last year, he added.
The Irsa chief also informed that inflow in Jehlum River was 22,000 cusecs against 56,000 cusecs last year and the inflow in Chenab River was 9,600 cusecs against 40,000 cusecs last year.