HYDERABAD/SUKKUR: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that water shortage in the province is being experienced because the Indus river system is receiving inadequate flows. He said put the shortage at the moment at 40pc. He, however, called for sharing water shortages across the board, and advised growers to avoid cultivating rice crop in view of the situation.

He was speaking to journalists in Dost Khan Rind village of Sehwan taluka on Saturday. He expressed his concern over inter-provincial water distribution, and described the exercise as “not judicious”. He called for judiciously sharing of the problem by all stakeholders if it was a natural water shortage.

Mr Shah advised growers to avoid cultivating rice in view of water shortage.

The chief minister visited Sukkur Barrage in the evening and received a briefing from senior officials.

He was informed that contrary to the provisions of the three-tier formula, lesser water was released to Sindh by the federal authorities. Therefore, Sindh should demand its due share as per the 1991 Water Accord. He was told that Sindh was receiving lesser water although the Council of Common Interests had accepted Sindh’s stance on the issue.

Earlier, Federal Minister for Water Resources Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah and Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro welcomed the CM Shah on his arrival in Sukkur.

Mr Shah advised the barrage officials that water should not be stored in dams so that the shortage did not affect the Kharif crops till late June.

He noted that less than 9pc water was released into rivers across the country while Sindh’s share was more drastically reduced as compared to the releases to other provinces.

He pointed out that water shortage had badly hit the left bank canals of Kotri Barrage.

“If Sindh’s share is released on time, then we will be able to cope with the situation,” he said.

He said water shortage in Sindh had reached an alarming level because the 1991 Water Accord had not been implemented since 2000.

“We hope, the federal government will do justice on the issue of water sharing,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2022