May 22, 2006	Monday	Rabi-us-Sani 23, 1427

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SUKKUR, May 21: Prepara-tions have been made by the Sindh irrigation department to reopen the rice canal of the Sukkur barrage on Monday.

Millions of farmers in the paddy belt of Sindh and Balochistan have prepared for seedlings and are desperately waiting for water.

Traditionally, the Kharif season in Sindh opens with the arrival of Abkaliani (irrigation water).

Sources in the irrigation department told Dawn that after receiving more water at the barrage, the Khirthar and Dadu canals would also be reopened to irrigate the paddy belt.

The Begari canal of the Guddu barrage is expected to be reopened on May 25 while two of its canals, the Ghotki Feeder and the Pat Feeder, have already been opened.

About 114,000 cusecs more water has been released from Taunsa to overcome water shortfall in Sindh.

The situation at all the three barrages of Sindh will ease after reaching water at the Guddu barrage within next three days.

The water shortage at the Sukkur barrage has lessened to 18 per cent while at the Guddu barrage it is 63 per cent and at the Kotri barrage it has risen to 80 per cent because water released from the Sukkur barrage has not yet reached at Kotri.

It is expected that water will reach at Kotri within next 48 hours.

On Sunday, the Guddu barrage upstream was recorded 94,000 cusecs while the downstream it was 89,000 cusecs.

At the Sukkur barrage, the upstream was 71,000 cusecs and downstream was 36,000 cusecs and at Kotri the upstream remained 4,000 cusecs.

No water is being released below Kotri.

Water released from the Sukkur barrage for Kotri barrage has reached the Dadu-Moro bridge and will reach at the Kotri barrage within next 48 hours.

Sources said that Sindh received 336,000 cusecs water from May 11 to 20 while Punjab got 1,466,000 cusecs water during the same period.

They said that during the period May 11 to 20 Sindh’s share was 617,000 cusecs while it received 336,000 cusecs water and faced shortage of 46 per cent.

They claimed that Punjab’s share during the period was 108,000 cusecs while it violating the 1991 water accord and received 1,466,000 cusecs water thus got 45 per cent more water than its due share.