The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) Tuesday decided to switch to 'zero shortage' with immediate effect owing to improved inflows in rivers. IRSA spokesperson Rana Khalid said that the Authority reviewed water availability situation at a meeting and observed that river inflows increased by about 23,100 cusecs from Monday, which are expected to further improve in the wake of present rain spell. However, there is no improvement in storage.
He said the share of Punjab has been increased to 125,900 cusecs from 115,000 cusecs whereas Sindh would get 160,000 cusecs from 145,000 cusecs. The share of Balochistan has been increased to 16,000 cusecs from 14,000 cusecs. However, the share of KP would remain the same, ie, 3100 cusecs. "Irsa is trying to meet the full provinces' shares and may store surplus waters subject to availability," he added.