The Chairman of Indus River System Authority (Irsa), Muhammad Khan Memon, who took charge of the Authority recently, has said that he would like to follow the provisions of 1991 Water Accord. Talking to growers in the office of Sindh Abadgar Board here on Saturday, he said that the shortage of water this season would be about 14 percent.
Denying that Punjab was stealing water of Sindh share he said that whatever water would be available would be distributed among the provinces. He said that the water downstream Kotri Barrage was 20 million acre-feet, out of which 7 maf was released to canals.
He said he would not follow the 1994 historic agreement on water, except the 1991 Accord. He said that he had come here to meet the growers of Sindh and to seek suggestions from them to improve the water distribution system so that water could be distributed judiciously.
About the report of two Irsa members a few months back, in which they had said that Punjab was stealing 4000 cusecs water from the share of Sindh, Memon said that it was not an allegation of theft but they had said that it was due to error in the system.
Regarding Kala Bagh or Bhasha dam he said he would see if there was sufficient water for a dam or not. Earlier, Abdul Majid Nizamani, president of Sindh Abadgar Board, presented a memorandum before Irsa chairman on behalf of the growers of Sindh bringing to his notice that Irssa was distributing water as per historic formula of 1994, which was not part of Water Accord 1991.
He called the 1994 formula of water apportionment as illegal and without logic. He said that because of water distribution on historic 1994 formula cropped area in Sindh had decreased from 4.2 million hectares to 3.15 million hectares, while that of Punjab had increased from 13 million to 16 million hectares.
He said that if Irsa followed the accord of 1991 Sindh would not have suffered that loss. Major crops of sugarcane, rice and wheat have decreased to 50, 40 and 33 percent, he added.
He said that Irsa had rejected Kala Bagh Dam project in 1996, yet the sword was still hanging on Sindh. He said that Sindh Abadgar Board thinks that water is a contentious issue among the provinces, and inter-provincial harmony was being affected by not distributing it constitutionally.
He said it was essential for integrity of Pakistan to implement the 1991 water accord in letter and spirit. Before SAB meeting, the Irsa chairman had held a meeting with growers at Sindh Chamber of Agriculture office.