Sindh to get more water for Rabi crops: Irsa asks Punjab not to draw excess water from Indus

The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) has restrained Punjab from drawing excess irrigation water for its crops from the Indus River, it is learnt. According to sources in Sindh government, the Irsa had recently forwarded a letter to the Punjab government restricting it from drawing more water from the main branch of the Indus.
This was the result of the recent meeting of the Irsa advisory committee in which the representatives of Sindh government presented the case strongly, they said. Punjab's water share was only 2.593 MAF. However, it had been drawing at least 5.587 MAF water from the Tarbela-Indus System, sources said, adding that now the Punjab province would be limited to draw only its share while the extra irrigation water would be provided to Sindh that would leave positive impact on upcoming Rabi crops.
Now, the Sindh would get 10.41 MAF irrigation water for the Rabi crops, which would enhance the production of all crops, sources added. Till Monday, Punjab was drawing 3,000 cusecs of water from Chashma-Jhehlum link, 4,395 cusecs from Taunsa-Panjnad link, 6,000 cusecs into Thal Canal (old), 1,000 cusecs in Chashma Right Bank Canal (CRBC) and 7,500 cusecs in Taunsa Barrage's off taking canals, they said, and added that the amount of water drawn by Punjab would be restricted as the Irsa authorities had asked it to follow the directives.
Moreover, the canals of Punjab, which have no other source of water provision except the Indus River, would now get only 0.423 MAF water till January 2010, sources added. They said that Sindh province was facing acute shortage of irrigation water for last couple of months and the poor growers were worried about their crops if the required quantity of water was not available to their lands. Many canals of different districts have dried up due to shortage of water, rendering thousands of acres of fertile land barren, sources added.