ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) is likely to impose a 50 per cent cut on the water share of the Punjab and Sindh with effect from next week till March 31, Irsa sources told Dawn.

The Irsa will be meeting on Feb 18 in Islamabad to raise the cut to 50 per cent from the existing 33 per cent to both the agro-based provinces. The average water shortage during the season would thus be around 40 per cent as against 32 per cent anticipated at the end of the season.

The Punjab, said these sources, has already protested over non-implementation of the Rabi Water Distribution Plan that was approved by the Irsa itself in consultation with all the provinces at the beginning of the season.

Irsa had released 10 per cent more water from Tarbela Dam than what was stipulated under the approved plan which would result in further cuts, the sources said. Had Irsa abided by the schedule agreed among the provinces, the impact of the shortage could have been absorbed with minor adjustments.

The mandatory Irsa meeting would also take up the matter of water releases in broad breach of the agreement. Some of the provincial members have already submitted their analyses of the overall water shortage, said the sources. The meeting was earlier due to be held in the first week of February but was postponed till after Eid-ul-Azha.

The Irsa sources said that if the water releases continued at the current rate, the existing storage would not last beyond first week of March. That is why, the cut in provincial share is required to be put in place next week to maintain better rationing of the available resources to meet the crop requirement till March 31.

At the current rate of withdrawals and prevailing cold weather conditions, both the reservoirs of Tarbela and Mangla would reach their dead level by the end of this month. Irsa had earlier projected that storages would last till March 15 but excessive withdrawals by the provinces have reduced the period, said the sources.

The Irsa meeting would also consider allocations for the Kharif season and ask the provinces to give their projections for the season, the sources said

At present, the two dams are falling by around 2 feet per day to meet indents of the Punjab and Sindh. Water level at Mangla is around 1,074 feet as against its dead level of 1,040 feet.