LAHORE, Jan 24: Water shortage in the country may come down to 30 per cent from the earlier projected shortfall of 48 per cent in the wake of the current rain spell.

According to an official of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa), the current wet spell has provided crucial second watering to wheat crop and it may not need further water till the last week of February. Thus, the authority can save water for one month which would bring the shortage down from 48 per cent to 30 per cent.

In fact, he said, the current rain spell had already provided some relief if the dam data was anything to go by. According to Irsa projections, the Tarbela dam was supposed to be at the maximum level of 1405.73 feet, whereas it stood at 1422.27 feet on Monday - some 17 feet above the projected level.

Similarly, Mangla dam should have been at the maximum at 1081.48 feet, but it was at 1096.65 on Monday. This additional water has already brought down the shortage but its extent has not been calculated by the authority so far.

The current wet spell has not still made any impression on river inflows which were still very low. They may rise in days to come, thus bringing down shortage further, he hoped.

Another source of relief would come from heavy snowfall in hilly areas of the country. It has happened after many years. The snow will melt once temperature starts rising by March, thus providing a further relief to Rabi crops.

Snowfall has been substantial and would further cut the water shortage, he said and added: "It could now be safely claimed that the difficult period is now almost over." Owing to Irsa calculations, Punjab on Monday extended the canal closure period for an unspecified time.

The period was to end on Jan 23. The Punjab Irrigation Department on Monday asked the Agriculture Department to come with a fresh area-wise demand of water for standing crops so that it could revise canal closure plan according to new needs of the crops.