The Sindh dominated Indus River System Authority (IRSA) is not allowing Punjab to fill the Mangla dam on river Jhelum though there is now more than sufficient supply of water in river Indus, Punjab Senior Irrigation engineers told Business Recorder here on Wednesday.
They said historically the second biggest reservoir of the country, Mangla dam should have been 80 percent filled by 30th June whereas till now it has been filled by only 30 percent. The present water level in the reservoir is 1114 ft above its dead level of 1040 ft. The authorities plan to fill the raised dam to the level of 1,242 ft. this year.
They said as the water flow in river Indus at Chashma has gone up to 220,000 cusecs, Punjab requested IRSA to stop large water releases from Mangla dam to fill the dam and allow Punjab to draw irrigation water from the Indus river downstream the Chashma and Taunsa barrages. For this purpose, it has put up an indent of 14,000 cusecs to be released in Chashma-Jhelum link and 12,000 cusecs to be flowed in the Taunsa-Panjnad link canal for irrigating Kharif crops including cotton and sugar cane and other crops in south Punjab.
The Punjab government officials regretted that IRSA chairman who comes from Sindh province has rejected Punjab's genuine proposals and asked Punjab to draw maximum water from Jhelum River. They said since 220,900 cusecs water is flowing in the mighty river Indus which is more than requirements of Sindh and other provinces, therefore, there should not have been any problem for reopening the Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Panjnad link canals in the greater national interest.
However, they maintained that the IRSA, headed by the Sindh representative has refused to open the CJ and TP link canals and draw 26,000 cusecs water from the Indus Zone, rather it has advised Punjab to draw water from the Mangla zone. They said that the current water inflow in river Jhelum at Mangla is only 54,600 out of which 35,000 cusecs water is being discharged from the dam for irrigation and hydro-power generation purposes. With the remaining flow of 20,000 cusecs water, the dam would not be filled this summer, they apprehended.
They said that despite long distance and large running water losses from Mangla to Trimmu, Punjab Irrigation is supplying 20,000 cusecs water at the head-works for onward supply to south Punjab whereas the natural flow from Indus zone should have been more fast and economical.
They pointed out that Mangla dam is main source of water for sowing the most important Rabbi crops including wheat, oil seeds, vegetables, barley, fodder for livestock, etc, in Punjab during winter. If the dam is not filled to its capacity during next two months, the agriculture sector would suffer irreparable losses and food shortages. It may be added that Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) planned to fill the raised Mangla Dam up to its maximum level of 1,242 feet this year against last year's test-filling of 1,210 feet.
The Mangla Dam Raising Project had cost about Rs 97 billion for significant socio-economic development of the country, as it would store an additional 2.9 million acre feet of water besides generating 644 million additional units of electricity annually from the existing Mangla Power Station. Additional benefits of the project have been estimated at Rs 18 billion per annum.