Kharif relief |
THE Indus River System Authority has declared a modest 15 per cent water shortfall in the Indus system this kharif season. Irsa’s advisory committee took this decision at a time when storage in reservoirs was at its highest point in five years in the first week of April. Water availability in the rivers and dams this year is far better than it was last year when Irsa had to declare a 43pc shortfall in April 2025 due to severe drought. Irsa had to restrict water availability to drinking needs in that month.
Earlier in March 2025, the Met Office warned of drought in several districts of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab. Sindh’s barrages experienced a water shortfall of over 50pc at a critical stage of the early kharif season. The Sindh member in Irsa objected to the operating of two Indus link canals feeding Punjab’s Jhelum-Chenab zone when crops were thirsty in Sindh. Kharif sowing starts early in Sindh and water shortages in March and April afflict cotton, sugarcane, mangoes and vegetables, especially in lower Sindh.
The kharif season has commenced with a solid water stock, yet water availability could be hampered at a later stage due to delayed work on Tunnel-5 of the Tarbela Dam that has........