ISLAMABAD: A fact-finding mission of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) has said three major stakeholders in the water sector — Punjab, Sindh and Wapda — are misreporting river flow data, putting consumers, particularly the tail-end users, at a disadvantage.

The team headed by Irsa’s member for Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa Abdul Raqib Khan and comprising its secretary Khalid Idrees Rana and engineers of the National Engineering Services Pakistan visited various regulation points during their 15-day mission.

The team has reportedly submitted a preliminary report about the mission.

According to sources, the team members said the Sindh irrigation authorities did not cooperate too much with them during their visit to the province, at times refusing to sign attendance sheets and the data.

They said that during inspection they recorded river flow at a canal at 12,112 cusecs, but the irrigation department had been reporting a flow of 11,450 cusecs.

Likewise, at the BS-Feeder canal downstream powerhouse the flow was measured at 16,627 cusecs during the visit but the officials at the powerhouse had been reporting 14,052 cusecs.

The sources said the Irsa team reported 10-15 per cent difference between the flow measured by the independent team and that reported by the irrigation authorities at Taunsa barrage.

The report said the total difference in the flow recorded by Sindh’s irrigation officials and that measured by the Irsa team was as high as 60 per cent. Although the province was getting its full share as allocated by Irsa its internal situation was very bad.

This often resulted in a pathetic situation at the tail end where farmers were hardly receiving any water, the report said.

It said that although Rainee Canal had yet to be handed over to the Sindh irrigation department after its completion, the authorities were drawing water through it.

When contacted, the officials at the site reported that they were drawing water for “defence purposes” on the directives of the irrigation secretary.

At Ghotki Canal, the Irsa team said the difference between actual flow and discharges reported by the irrigation authorities (14,000 cusecs and 8,000 cusecs, respectively) stood at more than 60 per cent.

The mission reported that such reporting was a routine practice in Sindh, resulting in widespread salinity and water-logging.

At Kirthar Canal, actual measurement of flow was recorded at 2,105 cusecs against Balochistan’s actual share of 2,400 cusecs which meant that the Sindh irrigation department was depriving Balochistan of its allocated share.

The inspection team was also informed that Balochistan was getting only 5,200 cusecs at Pat Feeder Canal against its share of 6,700 cusecs for more than six weeks.

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2014