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January 23, 2002
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Wednesday
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Ziqa'ad 8, 1422
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Sindh wants its share of water
By Intikhab Hanif
LAHORE, Jan 22: The Punjab irrigation department on Tuesday sent a report to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) which was prepared in consultation with all four provinces to reach a solution to the water dispute, with Sindh showing little flexibility in its demand for more share than the historical usages.
Official sources did not reveal the content of the report but confirmed that Sindh insisted on getting its share of water as per Section 14-A of the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord. The accord does not provide for any mechanism for the distribution of water when it was in short supply.
They said the NWFP and Balochistan showed flexibility in order not to reduce supplies to any province at a time when the country was suffering drought conditions for the past almost three years.
Punjab has been demanding its share of water in accordance with Article 14-B of the accord, which, according to it, provides for distribution of water as per the historical uses of the provinces between 1997 and 1982.
The report has been compiled on the request of Irsa which met in Islamabad on Jan 8. The meeting was convened on the directives of the president’s secretariat which was approached by Punjab after the Irsa chairman declared null and void a ministerial decision taken in 1994 in the light of Section 14-B (historical uses) of the water accord.
The president’s secretariat had asked Irsa to convene a meeting and formulate a mutually-agreed formula of the distribution of water among the provinces. All the provinces attended the meeting and discussed the matter.
Sources in the provincial irrigation department said each province had given its view on the dispute which would be considered before taking a final decision.
They said, though the Irsa chairman had declared null and void the 1994 ministerial decision, the province was getting its share of water as per its historical uses as the water accord’s clause covering it still existed.
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