ISLAMABAD: In view of alarming situation and fearing massive decline in Indus Basin Irrigation System (IBIS), Indus River System Authority (IRSA) in another advisory has urged provinces to plan in advance the utilization of available supplies in the river system efficiently, cautiously & judiciously.
In a letter to all the concerned stakeholders on Tuesday, IRSA noted that the total Rim-Stations inflows, as of May 24, 2022, are recorded at 144,800 cubic feet (cfs) against total of 156,600 cfs on May 23, 2022; and 10-year average of 230,400 cfs, clearly depicting that the system has entered yet another dip as expected and intimated in the reference quoted supra.
According to Director (Operation) IRSA, Khalid Idris Rana, the current situation is due to peculiar weather conditions in the upper catchments of the rivers causing Skardu maximum temperatures to tumble from around 28°C on May 19, 2022 to around 16-21°C and sustaining there for the past 4-5 days.
“The ensuing low inflows have stressed the already almost empty storages with combined live storage of 0.191 MAF against 10-year average of 3.238 MAF and individual live storages as of May 24, 2022 of nil storage at Tarbela (dead level 1398 ft), meagre storage of 0.168 MAF at Mangla (1083 ft) and Chashma storage of 0.023 MAF (likely to touch nil storage in the next 24 hours),” he added.
According to water regulator, as Mangla level is already below spillway crest level of 1091 ft, the outflows through the powerhouse are also at the maximum capacity vis-à-vis the current low levels; resultantly, a massive dip is likely to hit the Indus Basin Irrigation System with lag-times of about 5-15 days to the provinces due to nil regulating/ augmenting capacity of the reservoirs.
Director Operations (IRSA) maintained that currently about 40-45% shortages are being distributed at the Rim-Stations, requesting provinces to plan in advance the utilization of available supplies in the river system efficiently, cautiously & judiciously during the dip, by placing of carefully estimated rationalised indents without any wastages, till improvement of water situation is seen in the first half of June 2022.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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