ISLAMABAD, April 6: The government is likely to expand the Indus River System Authority by inducting three non-voting members and place it under the cabinet division instead of the existing water and power ministry.

Irsa has proposed to the government that the expansion should comprise three non-voting members of known integrity from judiciary, agriculture and irrigation experts who could oversee the proceedings at Irsa meetings to avoid inter-provincial disputes over water distribution, Irsa sources told Dawn.

Irsa has also suggested that it should be placed under the administrative control of the cabinet division so that it could work independently like other regulatory authorities such as National Electric Power Regulatory Authority and Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, instead of being influenced by the water and power ministry.

At the same time, Irsa has opposed any move to change its current status which is representative of all the provinces.

The government had changed the composition of Irsa about three years ago when provincial secretaries started heading the authority on a rotational basis. The system failed and the government had to withdraw a presidential order and restore the current composition within three months.

The ministry had earlier moved a summary to make changes in the composition of Indus River System Authority to form an independent body of irrigation experts to shun its existing politicized outlook.

The ministry had also suggested amendments to the Indus River System Authority Act. The act was put in place under the 1991 Water Accord to make allocations to provinces in accordance with their agreed share.

The ministry was of the opinion that the reconstitution of Irsa with the induction of water experts was necessary to overcome continued failure of Irsa to address disputes over distribution during the last five years of water shortage.

In almost all the disputes over the last three years, the chief executive secretariat and general headquarters had to intervene repeatedly to make ad hoc adjustments to avoid inter-provincial polarization as nationalist groups exploited the situation for political gains, said a senior government official.

Sources said Irsa was disturbed over non-cooperation of the water and power ministry when its financial adviser ordered special audit of Irsa activities despite the fact that a normal audit had already taken place in December and had found nothing questionable that could have called for special audit.

The special audit by the Auditor-General of Pakistan Revenue has now been completed and a final report is awaited.

Irsa sources said the water and power ministry was displeased with Irsa for opposing its summary for its reconstitution and instead of calling for Irsa’s expansion and its placement under the administrative control of the cabinet division.