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ISLAMABAD, Dec 28: The government has released the report of the Technical Committee on Water Resources headed by A.N.G. Abbasi. The report, being serialized in Dawn, is available at the government website www.pakistan.gov.pk.
Water and Power Secretary Ishfaq Mehmood announced at a press conference on Wednesday that the report had been put on the website on the directives of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
Mr Mehmood, however, refused to answer when it was suggested that the actual report had been diluted as only those points had been made public which endorsed the government’s stance on the construction of big water reservoirs and the distribution mechanism of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa).
The findings of studies on water flow below the Kotri Barrage, conducted by consultants Dr Fernando J Gonzalez, Dr Thinus Basson and Dr Bart Schultz, are also available on the website.
The studies have recommended a flow of 5,000 cusecs water below Kotri throughout the year in order to check seawater intrusion, meet the need for fisheries, maintain the river channel and for environmental sustainability.
The study calls for releasing downstream Kotri 0.3 million acre feet (MAF) water during Rabi season (October to March), more than that or at least same volume during Kharif season (April to September) and a total volume of 25 MAF water in flood season, expected to occur in every fifth year.
