KARACHI, May 30: The ongoing work to construct the Greater Thal Canal is a violation of the 1991 water accord as the condition of water flow downstream, below Kotri in River Indus, fixed at 140maf, is not being met. As a result, the province of Sindh has faced 41.6 per cent shortage of water up to May 20.

This was stated by the provincial secretary of irrigation and power, Mir Muhammad Parhiyar, while addressing a press conference at the Sindh Secretariat in Tughlaq House, on Thursday. He briefed journalists about the water availability position for Kharif crops.

Responding to questions, he said that the Sindh Governor, Mohammedmian Soomro, had taken up the issue with the federal government about issuing the certification by IRSA for construction of the canal.

He said that the province was committed to honour the accord in which there was a provision for the Thal Canal, provided its related conditionalities were met.

Mr Parhiyar said that under the water management scheme, a new culture was being developed in the province to ensure water availability on time and through proper rotation system. As a result, this year the area under cultivation was more than last year, despite shortage of water for the Kharif crop, he added.

Besides water management, he said, sincere efforts had also been made to check water theft by damaging water “mogas” and installing pipes through connivance of the irrigation staff.

He said that the culture of water theft is the outcome of indiscipline in the irrigation department where landlords, with the connivance of engineers, Beldars and Daroghas manipulate water theft, thus depriving others, mostly the tail-enders, of their water share.

They operate like a mafia, but now strict action has been initiated without any discrimination against some of the Beldars, Daroghas and engineers to send the message to others that indiscipline and violation would not be tolerated, he added.

To another question, Mr Parhiyar said that President Gen Pervez Musharraf had announced Rs13 million to bring improvement in the irrigation system against the estimated expenditure of Rs21 million of its PC-1, while the revised expenditure was estimated at Rs30 million.

He said that this money would be utilized for desilting, improving banks and gates of canals and carrying out repair work of bridges, rehabilitation of scrap tube wells and a better communication system.

The secretary said that the IRSA advisory committee, in its meeting held on April 10, 2002, at Islamabad, approved the anticipated water availability and reservoir operation criteria for Kharif season which was divided into two phases — early Kharif from April 1 to June 10 and late Kharif from June 11 to Sept 30.

Comparing the inflow position in rivers at their rim stations (figures in 1,000 cusecs) he said that on May 30, River Indus at Tarbela was 88 cusecs last year and 129.80 cusecs this year; River Kabul at Attock last year was 38.80 and 46.50 cusecs this year; River Jhelum at Mangla was 26.70 last year and 49.90 this year and River Chenab at Marala was 46.40 cusecs last year against 48.90 cusecs this year.

These figures show that inflows in rivers at rim stations are more today as compared to the same date last year.

WATER SHORTAGE: The irrigation secretary said that at present, sharing between Sindh and Punjab was being done on post-Tarbela 5 years actual average uses (1977-82), while NWFP and Balochistan were exempted from sharing shortages.

“Although Sindh does not agree with this sharing arrangement and has moved IRSA for sharing on Accord Allocation Basis as per the decision taken in the meeting of the IRSA advisory committee on April 10, 2002, till this is decided, the present arrangement is to be followed. The shortages in early and late Kharif under maximum, minimum and likely conditions are given below:

Period Maximum Minimum Likely condition

Early Kharif 32 per cent 53 per cent 42.5 per cent

Late Kharif 7 per cent 21 per cent 14 per cent

Total Kharif 15 per cent 30 per cent 22.5 per cent.