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ISLAMABAD: With an improvement in hydrological conditions, the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) has convened a meeting of its advisory committee on Monday to review the water situation and finalise anticipated availability for the remaining Kharif 2025 season.
Kharif season begins on April 1, and water availability criteria and distribution among provinces are usually settled for the entire season by the advisory committee in the last week of March.
But given peculiar scarce water conditions, it had allocated only drinking water shares to provinces for April — the first month of the season generally used for sowing crops. Provinces had delayed sowing because of the unprecedented water shortage, estimated at 43 per cent at the time.
Irsa’s advisory committee decided on March 26 to meet again in the first week of May to take stock of the latest situation and finalise “Anticipated Water Availability Criteria” and set provincial water shares for the season.
The shortage has since dropped to about 25-27pc to be finally approved by the committee on May 5. The water storage in reservoirs, particularly Mangla and Tarbela, has further improved to 1.762 million acre-feet (MAF), up from 1.3 MAF on April 20 and almost zero on April 1.
Irsa has invited irrigation and agriculture secretaries from the four provinces, Wapda’s members for water and power, the chief engineering adviser and the chairman of the Federal Flood Commission, along with all Irsa members, to attend the crucial meeting.
The authority has already increased provincial water shares, raising hopes about better cotton sowing that was earlier feared to dent Kharif crops amid a 43pc water shortage for the season predicted on March 26 by the Irsa’s advisory committee.
The committee earlier resisted provincial pressures on March 26, particularly from Sindh, for lower allocations and gave monthly allocations to provinces from the maximum shortage scenario.
As a result, the provinces were given minimum shares, mostly sufficient only for drinking instead of irrigation.
The provinces generally delayed sowing crops where possible.
Published in Dawn, May 2nd, 2025
