Islamabad: The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has expressed concerns about the severe water crisis during the current summer season. IRSA has attributed the possible water crisis to blatant incompetence in water management, low snowfall, and significant water theft, and has warned that there could be up to a 40% decrease in water flow during the current summer season.
During a briefing in the meeting, IRSA sources stated that delayed construction work on revision projects at the Tarbela Dam could not be completed on time, leading to a delay in the discharge of 85,000 cusecs of water for the T-5 project. Due to incorrect design of the T-4 project, the discharge of 30,000 cusecs of water will also not be possible. Overall, the supply of 1,15,000 cusecs of water from the Tarbela Dam will not be possible, and there is a possibility of Punjab losing out on the supply of 45,000 cusecs of water due to the construction of new Mangla Dam power units.
Sources from IRSA also revealed during the meeting briefing that 15% of the water theft from rivers, reservoirs, and rivers will exacerbate the water crisis. There is a possibility of one crore cusecs of water being wasted in the sea during the current summer season, while incorrect allocation of water distribution by provinces has also been highlighted as contributing to the crisis.
According to IRSA sources, the accurate allocation of water discharge from Sukkur, Gudu, and Kotri has not been provided.