News
Saturday, October 01, 2011
IRSA cuts Punjab, Sindh water share by 15%
* No cut in share of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan
* Release of water from Tarbela and Mangla dams for hydel generation stopped
By Razi Syed
KARACHI: The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has decided to cut Punjab and Sindh’s share by 15 percent to ensure 33.4 million acres feet (MAF) water for Rabi (winter) season 2011-12.
This was decided at the Advisory Committee of IRSA with Rao Irshad Ali Khan in the chair to review the availability of water and its allocation to the provinces.
According to the IRSA rules, not a single decision can be taken in the absence of other members besides total attendance to complete the quorum. Water experts, members Sindh Agriculture Forum (SAF) and Kissan Movement Punjab said that the country was heading towards the worst water shortage in the next couple of years due to insufficient water management practices and storage capacity. Around 21.7 MAF water would be available in rivers and 11.7 MAF water was in storage for the season.
There will be no cut in share of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan while IRSA decided to stop releasing more water from Tarbela and Mangla dams for hydel generation.
According to SAF water expert, Shakeel Ahmad, a report by the Washington DC based Woodrow Wilson Centre described Pakistan’s water shortage as deeply troubling.
It quotes South Asia scholar Anatol Lieven as saying that water shortages present the greatest future threat to the viability of Pakistan as a state and society.
Most independent analysts inclduing experts said all Pakistanis agree that Pakistan faces a severe water shortage and that some form of water management should be implemented soon. Ahmad said according to WAPDA, with increased population, Pakistan is fast heading towards a situation of water shortage. Per capita surface water availability was 5,260 cubic metres in 1951, when population was 34 million, which has been reduced to 1,038 cubic metres in 2010 when the estimated population is 172 million.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk