LAHORE, June 8: Pakistan’s water shortage ended on Saturday as the rivers’ combined flow exceeded total withdrawal capacity of the provinces.

The provinces have started running their canals at their full capacity in view of the supplies touching a healthy 371,500 cusec mark. Saturday’s inflow was factually 111,500 cusecs more than the total withdrawal capacity of the system that stands at 260,000 cusecs.

The Punjab can withdraw up to 110,000 cusecs from the Tarbela and Mangla commands. Similarly, Sindh can take out 125,000, Balochistan 10,000 and the NWFP 15,000 cusecs.

The river flow grew further on Saturday with Indus at Tarbela going up to 197,400 cusecs, Jehlum at Mangla was flowing at 46,000 cusecs, Chenab at Marala at 61,200 cusecs and Kabul at Nowshera at 66,900 cusecs. Out of the combined inflow of 371,500 cusecs, around 70,000 cusecs was stored, while the rest released for irrigation purposes.

According to the dam-level position, the Tarbela lake stood at 1406.70 feet against its dead-level of 1369.00. The optimum lake level is 1,550 feet. At present level, it is has stored 0.771 million acre feet of water, whereas its last year’s storage at the same day was only 0.190maf. The Mangla lake level was 1165.70 feet against maximum level of 1202.00 feet and dead-level of 1040.00 feet. Against its storage capacity of 4.46maf, the lake has stored 2.650maf.

Saturday’s outflow at Tarbela was 155,000 cusecs. The last year inflow of the river at the corresponding day was 111,200 cusecs and outflow was 114,300 cusecs. Similarly, inflow and outflow of Jehlum have also registered a marked increase of 46,000 cusecs and 25,000 cusecs over last year’s 22,900 cusecs and 10,000 cusecs.

But the most healthy effect on the system came from Chenab and Kabul rivers; both rivers are contributing 128,100 cusecs. The figures can be termed a very low flood level or very robust flow.

The early onset of snow and glacier melting mean that the country may not face any shortage till February and March when Rabi shortages take hold of Pakistan’s water supplies.

Explaining the reasons behind shortages, an official of the Punjab Irrigation Department said that river flows had been normal but substantial storage capacity had been lost to the siltation. This loss of storage is creating problems now. When built, Tarbela Dam used to last till June 15. This year, it hit the dead-level on March 6, leaving wheat crop without the last two waterings. The trend, he feared, would continue and if new storage is not built within a reasonable period of time, the country’s water problems would only aggravate.

The country is now entering the flood season and supplies would further improve in the coming days, he predicted and added: “Normal crisis months are April to June 10 and October to March. This year snow and glacier seem to have started melting earlier due to high temperatures and the monsoon season would soon set in to supplement it. So, the country can relax for next few months.”