ISLAMABAD, Sept 30: The country is estimated to face water shortage by more than 9 per cent during the Rabi season starting on Oct 1, official sources say.

An Indus River System Authority official told Dawn on Tuesday that a 9pc cut in the water share of Punjab and Sindh would be applied to meet crops requirement during the six-month season.

He said the IRSA technical committee would meet on Thursday to finalize water management for Rabi. Chief secretaries and irrigation officials of the four provinces and representatives of Wapda, the flood commission and Nespak will attend the meeting.

The NWFP and Balochistan will be exempt from any cut in their share.

The technical committee, headed by IRSA chief engineer, will be presided over by IRSA chairman because the post of chief engineer has been lying vacant for more than six months following the expiry of Mr Amanullah’s contract.

Sources said the water level in Tarbela and Mangla was below their maximum level by 9 feet and 4 feet, respectively, on Tuesday.

They said the Sindh government would raise the issue of distribution of water in accordance with para 2 of the 1991 Water Accord and insist that the principle of sharing the shortages on the historic use basis should be done away with and all provinces should share the shortages on an equal basis.