ISLAMABAD, May 18: The loss of about 20,000 cusecs of water between Taunsa and Guddu barrages has dropped to about 4,000 cusecs after a field visit by two-member committee of the Indus River System Authority, it is learnt.
The committee, comprising Irsa members from Balochistan and the NWFP, was constituted by Minister for Water and Power Liaquat Jatoi to investigate into complaints of loss of about 20,000 cusecs of water per day between Taunsa and Guddu barrages.
Sources said the members visited about 200-km area between the two barrages from May 13 to 17 and found some clues to the missing water, which could not be attributed to the normal system losses or evaporation.
The committee would submit its report to the federal government in a couple of days, they said.
Sources said that during the visit, the quantity of missing water, commonly known as water theft, significantly reduced to about 4,000 cusecs, indicating that water was being lifted on both sides of the River Indus through heavy pumping machines.
There were also indications that the Punjab irrigation authorities were reporting higher releases at Taunsa Barrage and their counterparts at Guddu were reporting lower arrivals to benefit influential landlords of their respective areas, sources said.
Meanwhile, Irsa is expected to revise the water drawing plans for the provinces on Friday owing to enhanced indents from Sindh which wants to draw about 150,000 cusecs from the Indus system from May 21 against current drawing of 120,000 cusecs.
Sources said Punjab was also expected to enhance its next 10-daily indents.
They said water storage level at Tarbela was about 10-feet higher than anticipated criteria approved by Irsa at the beginning of the season.
Sources said Irsa was meeting full demands of the provinces and there was no difficulty in enhancing their shares as water availability in the reservoirs was enough.
Owing to snow melting in the Northern Areas, sources said, river flows had improved a lot.
Indus river flow at Tarbela at 176,600 cusecs on Thursday was the highest ever level these days.
The total inflows at rim station on Thursday stood at about 380,267 cusecs against outflows of 311,078 cusecs. As such, about 69,000 cusecs of water were stored at Tarbela.
The river flows in Kabul at Nowshera on Thursday stood at 59,6000 cusecs and 176,600 cusecs in Indus at Tarbela. Similarly, river flows in Jhelum at Mangla were recorded at 77,989 cusecs and 66,078 cusecs in the Chenab at Marala.
