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IRSA asks Punjab to cease Indus withdrawals

By Khalid Mustafa

ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has asked Punjab to halt water withdrawals from the Indus arm in order for the Tarbela reservoir to be filled up by August 20, an official source told Daily Times on Saturday.

IRSA Chairman Noor Mohammad Baloch in a letter to Punjab asked that withdrawals from Chashma Jhelum and Taunsa Panjnad link canals be halted and instead withdrawals from the Mangla reservoir be increased to meet water requirements as per its share. The letter states that there are already massive withdrawals from Balochistan, the Frontier province, and Sindh.

The letter states that since the volume of inflows into the Tarbela reservoir is less than expected, outflows need to be decreased. IRSA wants to fill the Tarbela reservoir by August 20 so that it can be used for Rabi crops. This is the latest in a number of similar letters
already sent to the Punjab province, which had yet to respond to the central authority.

Chairman Baloch, who is also the Sindh rep on IRSA, has conveyed to GHQ (General Headquarters) that the Tarbela water level this year is less than that reached over the corresponding period last year.

Punjab has slashed Mangla withdrawals from 20,000 to 17000-cusecs. Punjab uses Mangla water for the Rabi season and has decreased withdrawals keeping this in mind. Mangla water level stands at 1,197.6-foot, just five
short of the full capacity of 1,202-foot. The full capacity was to be reached on July 20.

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