Irsa delays assessment of water till March 26

Irsa delays assessment of water till March 26

Saturday, March 17, 2012: Irsa (Indus River System Authority) has delayed its evaluation of water availability for the upcoming crop season. Irsa’s technical committee were scheduled to meet on Saturday and give their judgment
about the condition of water in the country.

But the committe has decided to meet again on March 26 – six days before the start of Kharif season – to assess the water availability.  

This decision of Irsa has left Sindh and Punjab growers without a clue about whether they will be able to start sowing on time. Irsa officials, on the other hand, have pinned their hopes on river inflows and expect them to improve
due to melting of glaciers.

Glaciers usually melt around this time of the year and provide enough water supply for the upcoming crop season, however, the recent cold wave lasting halfway through March has prevented this natural phenomenon from happening this
year.

While analysing the water availability for the upcoming crop season that starts on April 1, the committee decided that as the temperature levels in the catchments are not promising, an accurate measurement of water flows could
not be measured.

Thus, it was decided that based on the flows of March 20, another meeting will be convened on March 26, to measure the anticipated flow levels with more accuracy.

Irsa member said that Sindh and Punjab may face a water shortage of 15 to 25 per cent from April to June 2012, the start of the season. This brings the overall water shortage of 5 to 10 per cent for the entire Kharif season, official
said.

Meanwhile, the meeting held also categorically contradicted media reports about water shortage of 50% to 70% in the upcoming crop season.

Irsa officials also revealed that Sindh and Punjab have been updated on water theft issue and there is no tendion between the two provinces. Irsa official said, “We have built trust between two provinces over water loss issue.”

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Posted by Wajahat Javed on Mar 18 2012. Filed under Business, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry