29 October 2004	Friday	14 Ramazan 1425

LAHORE, Oct 28: Shortage of water in the Punjab has posed a serious threat to sowing of wheat in areas irrigated by non-perennial canals. This area constitutes about 32 per cent of the total land, which comes under the Rabi crop every year.

The view emerging at a joint meeting of the irrigation and agriculture departments here on Thursday was that the province was already facing 48 per cent shortage of water and if it was released to non-perennial canals for the wheat crop, the shortage would rise to 56 per cent.

About 50 per cent of the wheat area in the province is irrigated through perennial canals and another 32 per cent through non-perennial canals. The situation has aggravated after the Punjab government decided to bring more area under wheat cultivation this year.

This forced the two departments to leave the issue inconclusive and refer the matter to Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi for a decision. The meeting, chaired by Punjab Irrigation Minister Chaudhry Aamer Sultan Cheema and attended, among others, by Agriculture Minister Arshad Khan Lodhi, decided to prepare a summary for the chief minister to decide the vital issue.

However, it agreed that opening of canals on Oct 26 after a three-week closure between Oct 5 and 25, was a correct decision because water should reach all outlets by Oct 30.

The officials reached unanimity after a debate on the question if the reopening of canals on Oct 26 at a stage when paddy and cotton crops were still on farms and were yet to reach maturity, was correct. One opinion emerging at the meeting was that the process should be delayed for some days. But the majority view mooted at the crucial meeting was that sowing of wheat should be given priority. For this a district-wise position of standing paddy and cotton crop was assessed and the demand and availability of irrigation water for wheat sowing evaluated.

The most important issue of the meeting was that whether the present situation allowed releasing water to non-perennial canals at the cost of perennial canals for the Rabi sowing. The issue became all the more important when the agriculture department exposed its sowing target on an additional 200,000 acres to meet the national target of bringing more area under wheat cultivation.

According to an opinion, water should be released in non-perennial canals to supply first to non-perennial areas as had been the tradition so far. The irrigation department stated that the Rabi crop needed an overall 18.2 MAF water in the province whereas only 10 MAF was available.

The department said the water shortage was already as high as 48 per cent and if non-perennial canals were fed, this would rise to 56 per cent. In case water was released to non-perennial canals, it said, another 1.75 MAF water would be required. And the water shortage in canals in the Mangla command area would rise from 48 per cent to 53 per cent and in Tarbela command areas from 48 per cent to 61 per cent.

SUTLEJ: Irrigation minister Aamer Sultan Cheema told the meeting that 15,000 to 18,000 cusecs of water from the Chenab river was recently diverted to the Sutlej through the Balloki-Sulemanki link canal for treatment of brackish water of the Sutlej that surfaced on its bed.

He said the release of water was necessary even for washing the gates of headworks at Sulemanki, Islam and Mailsi Siphon which had become non-functional because of silt accumulation over the years and could not sustain water if and when released by India. He said the Sutlej water still could not be used till it passed the Panjnad headworks.