Pakistan could face up to 30-35 per cent water shortages during the upcoming kharif cropping season starting April 1. This could negatively affect some of the key cash crops like cotton and revive inter-provincial controversy over water allocations.

A clear picture of water availability for the season is expected to emerge on April 2 provided the Advisory Committee of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) is able to settle a couple of very tricky questions based on critical input from the Water & Power Development Authority (Wapda) and snow deposit estimates from the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

Meanwhile, Wapda said the Neelum-Jhelum Hydroelectric Project has achieved its maximum generation capacity of 969MW after inspection of the tail race tunnel (TRT) that was blocked earlier.

The meeting of the advisory committee would be presided over by Irsa Chairman Abdul Hameed Mengal from Balochistan and to be attended by all other four Irsa members, provincial irrigation and agriculture secretaries, Wapda’s members for water and power, PMD chief, Federal Flood Commission and other operational formations of the irrigation network. The climate change conditions resulting in sudden rainfalls or longer drought-like spans make water predictability even more challenging.

Irsa’s advisory committee meets on April 2

Irsa’s Technical Committee could not finalise water availability estimates this week due to insufficient information about operational constraints at Tarbela Dam. Repairs and construction were ongoing at three major tunnels, and the Mangla powerhouse was being refurbished. The uncertainty has been further aggravated by the suspension of construction activities following the terrorist attack on Chinese workers.