SIALKOT: The Marala-Ravi-Link (MR Link) Canal has been lying shut for the last two weeks due to water shortage in the river Chenab at Head Marala.

Irrigation department officials told Dawn the water was decreasing day by day in the Chenab at Head Marala due to which the MR Link Canal was shut.

The supply to Upper Chenab Canal (UCC) has also been reduced to 14,050 cusecs and it would come further down in the coming days, they said.

The two canals originate from the Chenab near Head Marala.

District Coordination Officer (DCO) Dr Asif Tufail said the water level had dropped to 15,337 cusecs in the Chenab and the downstream discharge was only 8,000 cusecs at Head Marala.

The water level is 1,940 cusecs in river Tavi and 2,777 cusecs in river Jammu. This is record reduction of water level in the Chenab here during this season.

The irrigation officials feared that the water shortage in the Chenab and the two canals could badly affect the sowing of crops on the thousands of acres of land along the belt, especially in Sialkot, Gujrat, Gujranwala and Sheikhupura districts.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2016