ISLAMABAD: The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Advisory Committee (IAC), while expressing serious concern over the continued depletion of live storage capacity at Tarbela Reservoir, has approved a system shortfall of 15 percent for April and 35 percent for the early Kharif season (April 1–June 10), subject to review in the first week of May 2026. The shortfall for late Kharif has been fixed at 5 percent.
The IAC met on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Amjad Saeed, Chairman/Member IRSA (Punjab), to deliberate upon and approve the Anticipated Water Availability Criteria for Kharif 2026 (April–September).
The meeting was attended by IRSA members, a representative of the Chief Engineering Adviser (CEA), Ministry of Water Resources, Member (Water) WAPDA, Chief Meteorologist of the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), Secretaries of Provincial Irrigation Departments (PIDs) of Punjab and Sindh along with their senior officers, technical representatives from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, General Manager Tarbela (WAPDA), Project Directors of T4 and T5 Hydropower Projects, representatives of provincial agriculture departments, and Director (Operations)/Secretary IRSA with senior officials.
The Committee reviewed the Rabi season 2025–26 (October–March) and noted that actual inflows stood at 21.782 MAF against the anticipated 22.016 MAF, reflecting a marginal shortfall of 1 percent and broadly aligning with projections. Total system storage as of March 31, 2026, was recorded at 2.307 MAF, significantly higher than last year’s 0.384 MAF and the 10-year average of 1.351 MAF.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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