Punjab releases water from Punjnad for Sindh, Balochistan

LAHORE: River supplies through Punjnad Barrage on Thursday started for Sindh and Balochistan with a view to supplementing shortage being faced by the lower riparian provinces from the Indus arm, official sources told The News.

The outflow from Punjnad Barrage in Punjab commenced with outflow of 4,000 cusecs, which will gradually be increased to 10,000 cusecs. This step has been taken to augment supply of river water to Sindh and Balochistan as a result of increasing outflow of water from River Jhelum through Mangla Dam.

The outflow from Mangla Dam too was increased by 5,000 cusecs. In the last 48 hours, the water releases from Mangla Dam swelled to 65,000 cusecs from 35,000 cusecs, said a senior official.

The arrangement of supplying water to Sindh and Balochistan through Punjab would continue as long as outflows of Indus arm below Chashma barrage are not improved, said the official.

The decision in this regard was taken at the platform of Indus River System Authority (IRSA), after Punjab decided to abandon storage of water at Mangla Dam in order to provide water to Sindh and Balochistan.

Traditionally, both these provinces are fed from Indus. However, owing to unprecedented dip in river flows of River Indus and Kabul this year, a shortfall of about 15 to 20,000 cusecs of water was being faced in Guddu Barrage downstream, official said.

Owing to widespread rains in catchment area of Jhelum River from April 4 to April 8, and early melting of snow, a surge in River Jhelum inflows greatly complemented filling of Mangla Dam, increasing its level by about 40 feet or with about 0.5 million acre feet (MAF) of water if compared with the estimated quantum of water.

Keeping in view very low inflows of Indus and Kabul Rivers, but contrastingly above normal supplies available at Mangla, Punjab has decided to share its water with other provinces. The official said Mangla Dam is primarily used for running Mangla Command canals of the province and associated channels of southern Punjab.

The consensus for sharing available water was reached following criticism raised by various representative of Sindh government, who were wary of low water supplies in recent weeks. There have been fiery statements by leader of opposition in National Assembly and Sindh chief minister about shortage of water.

About prospects of water availability in early kharif season, a senior official said, “We are expecting some positive development after mid-April as far as river flows are concerned with rising mercury level in Northern Areas which will accelerate snow melting.”

The temperature in Gilgit is now hovering around 23 Celsius, It is predicted that it would touch the level of 30C in next few days. This level of warm weather was indispensable for accelerating snowmelt in the catchment area of Indus River, the official explained.

As per estimates for early kharif (April 1 to June 100, there is 12 percent reduction in flows of rivers as compared to average flows. In the remaining part of Kharif, up to September 30, this shortage would be ended on the back of increased inflows.