January 9, 2002	Wednesday	Shawwal 24, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 8: The crucial meeting of Indus River System Authority on Tuesday failed to create a consensus on a formula of water distribution among the provinces, official sources told Dawn.

The new formula, it may be mentioned, has been drawn up to replace the Indus Water Distribution Accord of 1991 for equitable distribution of water.

Meanwhile, the Irsa approved release of 7,000 cusecs of water daily from Mangla Dam to meet the urgent defence-related needs.

According to inside sources, the three provinces — Sindh, the NWFP and Balochistan — continued to stress on implementation of Indus Water Distribution Accord of 1991, rejecting once again the ministerial decision of 1994.

While the NWFP and Balochistan presented their proposals on the new formula, Punjab and Sindh failed to do so.

The provincial representatives, while discussing the overall water position, decided to spare water for defence purposes out of their needs. The 7,000 cusecs water approved for the purpose would be released from the collective share of the provinces.

The Irsa meeting decided that it would hold another session next week to discuss the recommendations of the provinces.

The meeting also decided not to release water for irrigation purposes from Mangla Dam from Jan 1 to 20 in order to allow the reservoir’s filling. It was observed that the release of extra water to the armed forces would result in further deduction of provincial share of water.