ISLAMABAD, Jan 31: The government has decided in principle to appoint a former member of Wapda from Punjab and a former secretary of planning from Balochistan as members of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) against the posts lying vacant for over two years.

A water and power ministry official said a summary for the appointment of two members — one representing federation and the other Balochistan — had been finalised to seek the prime minister’s approval.

He said Wapda had named Chaudhry Mushtaq, a former member of Wapda, for the post of Irsa’s Member Federal, although it was the federal government’s prerogative to do so, and the Balochistan government had recommended the name of Muhammad Nasim Bazai, a former secretary of planning in the province, for the post of Irsa’s Member Balochistan.

“The two names are being forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat for approval and notification,” the official said, adding the former Wapda member was considered to be an expert in hydrology and he would provide technical help to Irsa.

The post of Irsa’s Member Federal has remained one of the central points of differences between Punjab and Sindh governments in matters relating to water rights. It was in this background that the federal government desired that Sindh-domiciled Wapda chief Syed Raghib Abbas Shah nominate a man from Punjab to avoid the inter-provincial controversy.

In order to allay fears of people in Sindh about construction of new dams which would reduce flow of river water into the province, Gen Pervez Musharraf as the country’s chief executive had amended the Irsa Act of 1992 and shifted headquarters of the authority from Lahore to Islamabad and ensured a Sindh-domiciled member to be on the authority as its Member Federal. Thus, Sindh had two members on the authority for more than a decade.

The Punjab government led by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been a vocal critic of appointment of two Sindh-domiciled members to Irsa. He has urged the federal government to appoint Irsa’s Member Federal from Azad Kashmir or Gilgit-Baltistan to ensure impartial decision-making in Irsa in the presence of equal representation from four provinces.

The Punjab Assembly had passed a resolution to support Mr Sharif’s demand, but the suggestion was opposed by the Sindh government and a counter resolution was adopted by the Sindh Assembly in January 2011 demanding the federal government to continue appointing the Member Federal from Sindh.

To avoid the controversy, the federal government did not fill the post of the Member Federal since October 2010 after the completion of the tenure of the contract of Bashir Dahar. Instead, it asked Federal Flood Commission chairman Asjad Imtiaz Elahi to perform additional duties of Irsa’s Member Federal on a temporary basis.

Mr Elahi also worked as chairman of Irsa.

Irsa law required that the post of chairman be held by members from Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh and the federal government, in that order, for a period of one year.

The law also required the chairman of the flood commission to function as Member Federal in the event of the post falling vacant for any reason.

An Irsa official said that Gen Musharraf’s 1992 order was still valid because it was neither rescinded nor amended by the PPP government.

The post of Irsa Member Balochistan has been lying vacant after the retirement of Mohammad Amin about two years ago. Balochistan’s secretary of irrigation has been acting as Irsa’s Member Balochistan.