ISLAMABAD: The current water flows in River Jhelum are at a 42-year low level and will lead to around 40 per cent water shortage in early-Kharif season, posing serious threat to upcoming crops, authorities said on Thursday.
A technical committee of the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) comprising technical experts from federal agencies including Wapda, Meteorological Department and representatives from the four provinces calculated total water availability at 95 million acre feet (MAF) for Kharif season compared to 107 MAF last year and post-Tarbela dam average of 112 MAF.
There would be no carryover water storage in Kharif after many years and the entire irrigation would depend purely on river flows, said Director Operations Irsa, Khalid Idrees Rana, who presided over the meeting.
He said the Met Office briefed the meeting about the prevailing weather conditions and predicted above normal temperatures in April and yet below normal snow melting in catchment areas. Based on current data, the Met office forecast normal rainfall in monsoon season but would firm up those projections by end-May.
