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Sunday, June 28, 2009
PWC blames Nawaz Sharif for Punjab’s woes
By Khalid Mustafa

ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Saturday increased the water share of Sindh by invoking para-2 of the Water Apportionment Accord 1991 for the next 10 days. The water distribution ratio between the four provinces now stands readjusted for the said period by the regulatory authority keeping in view the immediate water needs.

“Under this mechanism, the Punjab will get 126,000 cusecs of water per day for 10 days, Sindh 157,000 cusecs, Balochistan 1,200 cusecs and NWFP 4,000 cusecs per day,” a spokesman for the Irsa, Rana Khalid, told The News.

He said para-2 gets invoked twice or thrice in the season depending upon the water shortage while in normal circumstances the water is shared as per the agreed water-sharing ratio given in clause 14-B of the accord. In the current season, water has been distributed under 14-B for 10 days.

The Punjab member in the Irsa said that water was distributed under a three-tier formula, which was proposed and approved by Irsa Chairman Nasir Rajput, who belongs to Sindh. However, M H Siddiqui, Adviser to the Punjab Irrigation System, said the Punjab had opposed the decision of invoking para-2 for the next 10 dailies.

He said that whenever para-2 gets invoked, Sindh gets more water at Punjab’s cost. The Punjab had been demanding in the past that unless and until the water system had 114 MAF water for the whole year, which could be ensured if dams are erected on Indus, then only para-2 should be applied, he added.

Another senior official said that under para-2 of the accord, if water availability stands at 114 MAF million acre feet of water for one year, then Sindh gets 5 million acres more water.

It is pertinent to mention that the accord was signed during Mian Nawaz Sharif’s government in 1991.

Critics of para-2ís imposition point out that while 85 per cent of the country’s food requirements are met by the Punjab but it is getting less water than Sindh while Balochistan and NWFP get only 5 per cent.

It is being argued that such water distribution is threatening the agricultural base of the country and fostering food insecurity.

Farooq Bajwa, founder convener of the Punjab Water Council, while talking to The News, accused Nawaz Sharif for mortgaging the agrarian economy of the whole province by signing the para-2 in the water accord. Hamid Mali, the current convener of the council, also accused Nawaz of endangering the agrarian economy of the Punjab and thus of the whole country.

The News contacted Senator Pervez Rashid to solicit PML-N views on the matter but he said he was not an expert on water issues and referred this correspondent to Zulfiqar Khosa. However, despite repeated attempts Zulfiqar Khosa or Ahsan Iqbal remained inaccessible.