News
Friday, July 16, 2010
IRSA reopens CJ Link Canal
* Punjab to get additional 15,000 cusecs of water
* Authority tells Punjab canal being opened after water situation improvedStaff Report
ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) on Thursday reopened the Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal (CJLC) on the request of Punjab.
The decision to reopen the canal within three days had been taken at the IRSA meeting held on July 14. New IRSA chairman Abdul Raqeeb Khan and representatives of all the provinces and the federal government had attended the meeting.
With opening of the CJLC, Punjab will get an additional 15,000 cusecs of water and its total indent will increase from 240,000 to 255,000 cusecs.
Sources in IRSA said that the authority had written to Punjab Senior Minister Raja Riaz Ahmed and told him that the link canal was being reopened ahead of schedule, as the water situation in the barrages had improved.
The letter urged the Punjab government to make adjustments from its share of water from Tarbela Dam, “so that any potential injustice to any side can be averted”.
The sources also revealed that the letter sent by IRSA to Punjab government has been signed by Raqeeb Khan and the representatives of Sindh, Punjab and the federation. However, it does not bear the signature of the IRSA member from Balochistan, Syed Ali Shah.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk