ISLAMABAD, May 8 (APP):Indus River System Authority (IRSA) on Wednesday curtailed the shortages for the early Kharif period till June 10th, from the initial 30% to 21% for Punjab and Sindh provinces, while allowing full indented supplies for Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the already approved exemption.
The authority, which met with Chairman IRSA Abdul Hameed Mengal in the chair here, reviewed the water situation from April 1st to 30th, 2024, and noted that the actual inflows of 10.35 million acre feet (MAF) far exceeded the forecasted inflows of 7.03 million acre feet, with a 47% increase, said a statement issued here.
The meeting was attended by all IRSA members, the Director (Opr), and senior technical personnel of the Authority.
The increased river inflows, more concentrated in the Kabul and Jhelum Basins, were due to the exceptional westerly disturbances that stretched into the month of April 2024, making the rainfall total for the month 164% above normal.
The recent rains added about 3.6 MAF in storage; accordingly, the storage in Tarbela, Mangla, and Chashma reservoirs stood at 4.358 MAF on May 8, 2024, i.e., 48% above the 10-year average.
Taking the above-mentioned very promising water situation into consideration, the authority decided to curtail the shortages for the early Kharif period. Resultantly, provincial utilization of Punjab and Sindh was switched to the IRSA Advisory Committee’s (IAC) approved maximum scenario, whereby they were allowed to utilize the flood flows to avoid spillage.
With effective and timely regulatory measures, the share of Punjab has increased from 8.252 MAF to 9.266 MAF and that of Sindh from 4.934 MAF to 5.538 MAF.
In the wake of a weather advisory issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) regarding the heat wave in the current week, the Authority also decided that, owing to the erratic hydrological variability that was becoming increasingly pronounced due to climate change, the water situation shall be reviewed after each 10-day period and adjusted.
