HYDERABAD, July 22: Sindh growers, who are facing acute shortage of water because of Irsa’s untimely decision to release water to Chenab zone through Chashma-Jhelum link canal and also because of mismanagement of whatever little water the province is receiving, have rejected Punjab’s claim that Sindh is getting enough water.
At a meeting of Irsa on Tuesday, Punjab said that water flows had improved in downstream Kotri Barrage because of the share of Sindh from Indus. But Sindh growers dispute the claim say that the water flowing below Kotri is not from the province’s share in Indus but from Nai Gaj, a drain that carries hill torrents caused by rainfall in Khirthar mountains in Balochistan.
They argued that Punjab should have irrigated its Chenab zone with water stored in Mangla Dam because the area fell in the dam’s command area.
Irsa decided in the meeting held on July 17 to continue releasing water to Chenab zone in southern Punjab from Indus through CJ link canal.
Official water records obtained by dawn indicate that the CJ link canal has been in operation since May when Punjab got 1000 cusecs for Greater Thal Canal which is allocated under the Water Accord 1991, according to Irsa chairman.
It received 6,000 cusecs in June and this was increased to 7,000 cusecs on July 5 and 8,000 cusecs on July 7.
Irked by the decision, the Sindh government has written a letter to Irsa and the authority’s chairman Mazhar Ali Shah says he has received the letter which expresses fears that Sindh’s share in the Indus has been released into the CJ link canal.
But Mr Shah said Sindh was getting water as per its share and 15 to 20 per cent more than last month’s releases.
He said that Mangla dam was filled to 1,210 feet last year but this year it appeared difficult to fill it as temperature in its catchment areas had not gone up. The current storage level in Mangla was down by 30 to 35ft than in the corresponding period last year.
“We hope Mangla will be filled to 1,240ft after rains,” he said.
He said that Tarbela Dam’s storage was up by seven feet. “Water storage in both the dams is shared among all provinces,” he said.
The Irsa chairman said that Tarbela was having inflows of 200,000 cusecs but now it was getting 177,000 cusecs after the drop in temperature.
“We have reduced flows by 3,000 cusecs into CJ link canal as 18,000 cusecs is being released into it against the previous flow of 21,000 cusecs. When flows improve in Chenab river, discharges in CJ from Indus will be further reduced,” he said.
Sindh farmers have been complaining since the Kharif season set in that they are not getting enough water for rice and other crops. The filling of dams at the cost of Sindh has had serious implications on Kharif crops, with the result that only 36 per cent target of paddy sowing has been achieved in the province so far.
Water flows in the Indus improved in July but it takes time to reach farmland, especially in tail-end areas of canals. Mismanagement in water distribution by the irrigation department and Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) is adding to the shortage.
An irrigation official who monitors water situation said that water released from Sukkur Barrage took a week to reach Kotri and, therefore, recent discharges downstream Kotri could not be termed as a contribution of Sindh’s share.
They are actually flows resulting from rainfall in Balochistan and Nai Gaj that carried water to Manchhar lake and then to the river.
He said that 20,000 cusecs were released on July 13 from Sukkur Barrage, which after a loss of 10,000 cusecs leaves only 10,000 cusecs, which reaches Kotri upstream. Nai Gaj fell into Manchhar Lake from where water eventually flowed into the river at Kotri upstream near Sehwan, he said.
According to a Kotri barrage official, the level in Manchhar Lake had to be reduced to maintain it at safe level. The half a decimal drop could make up for 2,500 to 3,000 cusecs going into the Indus.
“On July 22, the discharge was 6,203 cusecs at Kotri downstream,” he added.
The president of Sindh Abadgar Board, Abdul Majeed Nizamani, said that Sindh respected Irsa’s recent decision which was taken by majority. But even then, flows into the CJ link canal from Indus were not fair on humanitarian grounds.
“Mangla dam has been filled to 1,147.35 feet against its maximum level of 1,242ft whereas flows for storage in Tarbela dam that mainly caters to Sindh’s water needs are not encouraging because of further drop in temperature in Skardu,” he argued.
According to a system monitoring official, temperature in Skardu was recorded at 26.7 degree centigrade on July 22. Storage level in Tarbela was recorded at 1,459.66ft against its maximum level of 1,550ft.
Mr Nizamani said if Chenab zone was provided water from Mangla, there would have been no need to divert water from the Indus. “Mangla’s storage was 102 feet above its dead level of 1,040 feet until recently and it indicates that Punjab could have easily fed its Chenab zone from the dam,” he said.