ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Advisory Committee on Tuesday reviewed the anticipated water availability for the Rabi season from Oct 1 to March 31, 2027 and approved 22 percent shortage for both Punjab and Sindh.
In a statement, the authority said, “Based on the agreed inflows and other system operational parameters, overall system shortage worked out as 22 percent for both Punjab & Sindh, subject to periodically review by IRSA Authority. The anticipated provincial withdrawals were allocated as 29.183 MAF which were slightly more than 10-year average of 28.73 MAF”.
IRSA Advisory Committee (IAC) meeting was held here under the Chairmanship of Amjad Saeed, Member IRSA (Punjab)/Chairman IRSA. The meeting was attended, inter alia, by IRSA Members, Chief Engineering Advisor (CEA), MoWR; Members of WAPDA’s Water & Power Wings; Secretaries Provincial Irrigation Departments (PIDs) of Punjab and Sindh along with their senior officers; Senior Officers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, General Manager WAPDA Tarbela and their senior officers; WAPDA Advisors; Senior Representatives of Provincial Agriculture Departments and Director (Opr) IRSA along with senior technical officers and personnel.
IAC reviewed Kharif 2026 season and noted that the actual inflows of 95.44 Million Acre Feet (MAF) were less than anticipations by 8 percent, 10-year average by 7 percent and last year inflows by 22 percent. Provinces received indented supplies for the period of Apr-01 to May-15, 2026 and subsequently in Late Kharif period. During the Late Kharif period besides utilization of supplies as per Para 2 of the Accord, Punjab and Sindh utilized 0.077 MAF and 1.262 MAF, respectively as flood supplies under Para 4 of the Water Accord 1991. During Kharif 20026 (Apr-Sep) season Provincial utilization of Punjab, Sindh, KP & Balochistan remained 11 percent, 7 percent, 28 percent & 58 percent less than their Accord share respectively. The total storage available on 30.09.2026 was 9.343 MAF which was less than anticipated, 10-year av. And last year volumes of 12.014 MAF, 9.938 MAF and 13.214 MAF, respectively. The escapage downstream Kotri during Kharif 2026 was 10.40 MAF against IAC anticipated, 10-year av. And last year of 13.05 MAF, 15.43 MAF and 30.85 MAF, respectively.
IAC also reviewed Anticipated Water Availability for Rabi 2026-27 as recommended by IRSA Technical Committee (ITC). After detailed deliberations and weighing different inflow options, IAC unanimously approved the anticipated likely Rim-Station inflows of 21.268 MAF, calculated by running various scenarios WAA-Tool jointly developed by CSIRO Australia, University of British Columbia Watershed Model (UBCWM) and the stakeholders, along with 4 percent and 0 percent conveyance losses for Indus and JC Zones, respectively.
IAC also reviewed the progress of on-going works on WAPDA’s T4 LLO and T5 HPP and urged that they should be completed as early as possible as they were already substantially delayed and causing shortages to the provinces during Kharif seasons. IAC also approved the closure of Chashma Barrage tentatively from 26th December 2026 to 14th January 2027 (21 days), as these dates are in synchronization with Provincial Annual Canal Closure Programmes.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
Comments