LAHORE: Water shortage may cost power, farm sectors Rs50m
By Our Staff Reporter
LAHORE, Sept 19: The water shortage may cost the power and agriculture sectors around Rs50 billion. According to water managers of the country, Pakistan may face up to 60 per cent water shortage during the coming Rabi season. Both major dams of the country may not fill this year.
Should that happen, it would be the first time for Tarbela since its commissioning in the late seventies. The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) alone would sustain a loss of Rs25 billion because of drought situation in the country.
According to its calculations, there would be a reduction of around eight billion units in thermal generation. In order to meet the loss, it would be importing 198,000 metric tons of furnace oil that would cost it around Rs25 billion.
According to a Wapda member for power, the economic cost would certainly be staggering, although there would be no shortage of power supply as the authority has sufficient power to spare.
At present, the peak supply hovers around 11,700mw against the total installed capacity of 17,301mw. Around 5,000mw having been derated out of the total capacity, it still leaves over 12,000mw to meet the demand of power. The weather would also affect the demand and supply. With temperature going down over the next few weeks, the demand for power would also go down.
The only worrying factor is the cost of furnace oil, a pass-through item. Wapda would foot the bill paid by independent power producers, which could be around Rs25 billion for this fiscal year.
Meanwhile, farmer bodies fear a loss of around two million tons of wheat on account of the water shortage. "Around 60 per cent shortage means that wheat would be fully watered only once, and not thrice," said a grower.
The crop used to be watered five times before the number was reduced to an essential three, he recalled. Import of two million tons of wheat would cost the country Rs24 billion in foreign exchange.
The price of power and diesel is a big deterrent for farmers against use of tubewells, says another farmer. Pumping water out of soil is anything but economical for the farmer and the crop. Out of 36maf required for the season, only 16 or 17maf would be available.
The rest has to be pumped out of soil at a cost of billions of rupees, and none could afford this luxury considering the support price for wheat and government's handling of the crop.
In these circumstances, farmers may not be much enthusiastic about the crop unless the government comes up with an attractive incentives' package that could compensate farmers on other accounts.
Inputs, power and diesel have to subsidized, power and diesel by as much as 50 per cent. Without this kind of commitment on the part of the government, the loss could be colossal for the country, he feared.
