SUKKUR, July 31: The 30 per cent water shortage in the Sukkur and Guddu barrages was expected to increase to 60 per cent if there was no rainfall by the middle of August. This will badly hit the Kharif and Rabi crops of the entire Sindh.

This was learnt by this correspondent on Wednesday from a survey carried out by the agriculture and irrigation officials here.

The agriculture experts said that the rice, sugarcane, and cotton crops had been badly affected in Sindh and had already suffered 40 per cent loss, and added that if the water was not received here soon the crops would be destroyed further.

The irrigation officials said that the level in the Tarbela Dam was increasing by two feet on a daily basis, when, in fact, this season it should have increased by 7 feet per day.

At present, the level of water was 1,484 feet. If water is not released soon, there is every likelihood of Rabi crops being affected.

The irrigation officials told this correspondent that the full capacity of water at the Chashma Barrage was 160,000 cusecs, whereas only 135,000 cusecs were being released, which led to a shortfall of 25,000 cusecs.

They claimed that until there was rainfall or the melting of ice on the mountain tops, the situation would remain the same and would prove to be harmful for the crops.

The irrigation authorities said that the area of the Kotri Barrage had been affected the most where there was a discharge of only 25,735 cusecs while the downstream flow was zero.

They claimed that the canals of the Sukkur Barrage had been seen flowing at full swing on Wednesday morning because of the breaches at the Rohri and Mir Wah canals.

At the Sukkur Barrage, the upstream flow of water was 125,000 cusecs while the downstream was 99,000 cusecs. At the Guddu Barrage, the upstream flow of water was 127,000 cusecs, while the downstream was 91,365 cusecs.

The secretary, Irrigation, Sindh, Mir Mohammed Pariyar, visited various parts of Sindh and told the growers that the shortage was natural and there was no political element in it.

He advised them to face the situation courageously and not to waste any water that was available.

He also took serious notice regarding the breaches and asked the chief engineer to send him a detailed report about all the breaches which had developed during the last month.

He said that strict action would be taken against those involved in corruption.