KARACHI: The Sindh government on Thursday urged the federal government and Indus River System Authority (Irsa) to immediately release water downstream of Chashma in accordance with the province’s indent and to suspend operations of the Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Punjnad link canals until the province’s shortfall is met.
Addressing a press conference here, Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro voiced strong reservations over what he called the unjustified water cuts by Irsa, accusing the regulator of violating the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord and deepening the province’s irrigation crisis at the onset of Kharif season.
He said that the province was being deprived of its rightful share despite the ample availability of over 4.019 million acre-feet (Maf) in Tarbela, Mangla and Chashma reservoirs. “Depriving Sindh’s farmers of their due share is sheer injustice,” he said.
The irrigation minister said that Irsa had failed to meet the province’s indented demand throughout May and continued the shortfall into June.
Says shortfall at Guddu, Sukkur and Kotri barrages worsening
“Between June 6 and June 10, Sindh had placed an indent of 145,000 cusecs downstream of Chashma. Instead, only 120,000 cusecs were released,” he added.
The irrigation minister contended that temporary surplus flows that reached Sindh’s barrages in April, owing to unseasonal rains, were wrongly adjusted against the province’s share, creating an artificial shortage as the Kharif season began.
“While Sindh’s barrages face acute shortages, the Chashma-Jhelum (CJ) and Taunsa-Punjnad (TP) link canals are being operated near full capacity at 16,500 cusecs and 10,816 cusecs respectively, diverting Indus flows toward Punjab’s tributaries,” he said.
The minister said that the provincial government had formally contacted the federal government regarding the continuous reduction in Sindh’s water share and that a letter had been sent to the prime minister.
Barrage-wise shortfalls
According to official figures shared by the irrigation minister, Sindh’s three barrages were receiving a combined 64,093 cusecs against an allocated quota of 106,340 cusecs - a 40 per cent overall shortfall.
He said that the Guddu Barrage was drawing 20,518 cusecs against a quota of 28,340 cusecs (28pc shortfall), Sukkur Barrage 32,120 cusecs against 51,100 cusecs (37pc shortfall), and Kotri Barrage 11,455 cusecs against 26,900 cusecs (57pc shortfall).
The minister said that by contrast, Punjab was receiving 98,812 cusecs against its quota of 109,100 cusecs, reflecting a shortfall of just 9pc.
He warned that the cuts threatened millions of acres across Sukkur, Larkana, Dadu, Shikarpur, Qambar-Shahdadkot and parts of Balochistan.
He said that Dadu Canal was the worst-hit, flowing at 860 cusecs against a quota of 4,995 cusecs (83pc shortfall). “The North-Western Canal is at 2,100 cusecs against 4,260 cusecs (51pc shortfall), while the Rice Canal stands at 5,300 cusecs against 8,700 cusecs (39pc shortfall).
The minister reaffirmed that Sindh would protect its water rights at every constitutional, legal and democratic forum to safeguard the livelihoods of millions of farmers dependent on the Indus system.
Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2026