HYDERABAD, Dec 21: The Indus River System Authority chairman and the Punjab representative in Irsa have said that construction of dams is inevitable and other provinces are not responsible for releasing water downstream Kotri.

They were talking to journalists at the IUCN workshop here on Saturday.

Irsa chairman Abdul Raheem Zarqoon, who also represents Balochistan, said he was not talking about the Kalabagh dam but reservoirs were necessary to overcome water shortage.

He said the storage capacities of present reservoirs would be decreased in the next 10 years and added that a lot of water was being wasted as it was released in the sea.

He said a study would soon be conducted about water release downstream Kotri and Sindh would have to release this water from its own share.

Mr Zarqoon alleged that Punjab and Sindh had used 12 million acre feet of water of Balochistan’s share from the common pool.

The Punjab representative in Irsa, Mian Hafeezullah, said the situation of rivers of Punjab — Ravi, Satluj and Jehlum — was similar to the Indus River at the Kotri Barrage. He said the Punjab rivers were also drying.

He said Sindh lands were being destroyed because of the excessive use and wastage of water in the province.