The Punjab Irrigation Department has reopened irrigation canals emanating from Trimmu and Sidhnai barrages in South Punjab after a month long annual closure for desilting and repairs on Monday.
An Irrigation department spokesman told Business Recorder on Monday that the department had already opened the Upper Chenab Canal (UCC) with run of the river discharge of 7,000 cusecs water to irrigate crops in Central Punjab through its branches.
Lower Jhelum Canal (LJC) and its branches are drawing 18,000 cusecs water from Mangla dam to augment water supplies at Trimmu headworks on river Chenab that irrigates western parts of the province. Two Abbassia canals off-taking from Panjnad headworks in Indus zone have also been opened with running water of 2,200 cusecs to irrigate crops of Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan districts.
He said all the perennial canals of the province would be reopened by February 5th, 2011 to draw 60,000 cusecs water from the Mangla and Indus zones for giving second watering to the Rabbi crops including wheat, grams, lentils, oil seeds, fodder and vegetables.
He said IRSA has allocated 17.4 MAF water against its normal usage of 19.75 MAF for this year's winter crops, which means that there would be 12 percent water shortage for the 2010-2011 Rabbi crops.
According to 31st January rivers flows and reservoirs level report of Water and Power Development Authority, about 41,700 cusecs water is flowing at rim stations of the four live rivers of the country, Indus at Tarbela 16,400 cusecs, Kabul at Nowshera 13,900 cusecs, Jhelum at Mangla 5700 cusecs and Chenab at Marla 5,7 00 cusecs. IRSA is presently releasing 68,000 cusecs water into the irrigation system across the country.
The inflow at Jinnah barrage on river Indus is 40,100, outflow 40,100 cusecs, at Chashma barrage inflow is 40,500 cusecs and outflow 19,400 cusecs, at Taunsa inflow is 17,200 cusecs and outflow 14,200 cusecs, Panjnad inflow is 20,400 cusecs and outflow 18,200 cusecs.