IRSA Advisory Committee Approves 18 Per Cent Water Shortage For Rabi Season

The Advisory Committee of Indus River System Authority (IRSA) on Thursday approved 18 per cent basin wise water shortage for Sindh and Punjab provinces during the forthcoming Rabi season 2022-23, beginning from October 1

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 29th Sep, 2022 ) :The Advisory Committee of Indus River System Authority (IRSA) on Thursday approved 18 per cent basin wise water shortage for Sindh and Punjab provinces during the forthcoming Rabi season 2022-23, beginning from October 1.

The Advisory committee which met with Zahid Hussain Junejo in the Chair here approved the Rabi 2022-23 Anticipated Water Availability Criteria from October 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023.

All IRSA Members, Chairman WAPDA, Chief Engineering Advisor, Member (Power) WAPDA, JS (Water) MoWR, WAPDA Advisors, GM&CE TBD and T5 HPP, Secretaries Provincial Irrigation Departments (PIDs) of Punjab and Sindh and their representatives, representatives of PIDs of KP and Balochistan, DGs of Provincial Agricultural Departments (PADs) of Punjab and Sindh and their representatives, DG Met Department, Director (Opr) / Secretary IRSA along with senior technical personnel of IRSA also attended the meeting.

The committee discussed the recommendations of IRSA Technical Committee (ITC) and approved the likely anticipated water availability at the four Rim-Stations of 21.67 MAF for Rabi 2022-23 which was about 3% more than previous year and about 4% less than 10-year average.

The committee was informed that the forecast and anticipated system operation was conducted by utilizing the Water Apportionment Accord (WAA)-Tool, developed jointly by MoWR, IRSA, PIDs, WAPDA under technical and financial assistance from the Australian Government through CSIRO and ACIAR.

The committee approved the WAA-Tool anticipated Indus and JC Zones losses as 8.6% and 0%, respectively, subject to the condition that they will be monitored till 31st October 2022 and subsequently updated accordingly.

Provincial Irrigation Department Punjab however, showed reservations on the adopted percentages for the losses in Indus Zone and advocated 0% losses based on matching year statistics.

Likely availability of water at the canal heads is 30.19 million acre feet (MAF ) which was about 10% higher than last year's availability of 27.43 MAF and 2% higher than 10-year average of 29.68 MAF.

DG Met Department said that as per their analysis, below normal rains were expected across the basin for the next three months. However, moderately above normal rains were expected over South East Sindh in areas adjoining Indian Rajasthan.

The committee also approved Balochistan's request of additional 0.149 MAF for Kachhi Canal, as on time arrangement due to dilapidated condition of the agriculture in Balochistan after the catastrophic rains in Late Kharif 2022.

Additionally, the committee also approved Chashma Barrage Closure as requested by WAPDA for a period of 15 days between the possible dates from Jan 01 to 15 2023, which would be synchronized with closure schedule of Guddu and Sukkur Barrages. During the Closure, Chashma Reservoir would be constrained between levels 638.15 ft to 640.00 ft with outflow restrictions between 15,000 to 30,000 cusecs.

Earlier, the committee reviewed the Kharif 2022 system operation and observed that the actual Rim-Station inflows of 91.47 MAF till 29th September remained 14% less than forecasted volume of 106.51 MAF and 9% less with respect to 10-year average of 100.42 MAF.

The early Kharif months of April, May and June were recorded as the driest, while the Late Kharif months of July, August September were the wettest on record.

The provincial canal withdrawals were 41% short with respect to shares. The committee was apprised that the imbalance between provincial withdrawals was due to less utilization/ closing of respective canals as the rivers were flooded. The actual system losses were 3.58 MAF as compared to anticipation of 14.43 MAF. Downstream Kotri releases remained 38.09 MAF due to catastrophic rains in the Indus Basin, especially the lower catchments.

It was informed that as a result of flooding of the Indus Main Stem, 19.93 MAF of gains occurred.

The Chairman WAPDA and Tarbela authorities also imparted detailed briefings to the august forum regarding Tunnel 5 Closure and said that the T5 HPP was a project of national importance. After thorough deliberations, the committee unanimously approved the Tarbela Tunnel 5 Closure for a period of 33 months from September 2022 to May 2025.

The Chairman IRSA reflecting the heartfelt feelings of all participants, expressed deep sorrow over the massive loss of life and property across all the provinces, caused by the calamitous rains of Late Kharif 2022.

He said that MoWR, IRSA, WAPDA, PIDs and PADs stood with the affected people during the relief and resettlement activities.