ISLAMABAD: Anticipating 38 per cent water shortage for Rabi season, the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Monday asked provincial agricultural authorities for better water management to minimise loss to crop output and rejected a call to subject Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces to water cuts.

The projected water shortage may hit the agriculture sector, which may lead to food security challenges. Wheat is the largest crop of the season. Gram, lentil, tobacco, rapeseed, barley and mustard are some of the other Rabi crops.

The meeting of the Irsa’s advisory committee was presided over by chairman Sher Zaman Khan and attended by senior officials of Wapda, irrigation departments of four provinces and director- general Pakistan Meteorological Department.

The representatives of Sindh including member Irsa and secretary irrigation raised the issue of application of three-tier formula for distribution of water shares among the provinces and said it was in violation of the 1991 water accord. Under the formula, Rabi season is divided into three parts and provinces are given water shares on the basis of water availability in each part.

Sindh demanded that distribution should take place under para-2 of the water accord that set provincial shares on entire season basis. It also demanded that exemption from shortage being given to KP and Balochistan should be withdrawn and all provinces should face equal water shortage.

Irsa, however, decided with majority including three provinces of Punjab, Balochistan and KP and the federal government to set provincial shares under three-tier basis. The majority held that Balochistan and KP were exempt from water shortage because of their capacity constraints under the accord and has always been in place for almost three decades.

Also, Irsa told the Sindh government that it had taken up the issue application of three-tier formula at the level of Council of Common Interests (CCI). The CCI in its meeting on May 27, 2018 had constituted a committee under the chairmanship of attorney general of Pakistan to look into the legal aspects and interpretations of the water accord. Therefore, Irsa could not take a decision on a matter that was under consideration at a higher forum and would maintain status quo until final resolution.

Irsa also concluded that distribution of provincial water shares under three-tier formula was very much within the water accord. Also, distribution of shares under para-2 of the accord was not possible until development of another storage reservoir as required under para-6 of the accord.The advisory committee estimated 18.99 million acre feet (MAF) river inflows during the Rabi season and carryover storage of 5.89 MAF in dams. It estimated system losses at 1.73 MAF.

It noted that water flow below Kotri barrage would be 0.04 MAF and water availability at canal head had been estimated at 23.11 MAF.

DG Met told the committee that winter rains will be below normal. No major rains were expected in October and November. In late December and January may be rainfall but mostly in upper parts of the country.

The advisory committee asked provinces to use better management techniques to utilise the available resource and enhance vigilant monitoring to avoid theft and losses.

On the basis of total availability of 23.11MAF, the committee allocated 12.18 MAF water share for Punjab, 9.21 MAF for Sindh, 700,000 acre feet for KP and Balochistan 1.02 MAF.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2018