Rabi crops: IRSA increases water supply by seven percent

The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has downgraded projected water shortage for Rabi crops 2013-14 from 15 percent to 7 percent during the months of February and March as water availability in the dams and the rivers has improved considerably.

Punjab Canal Regulator and Consultant, M.H.Siddiqui, told Business Recorder here on Friday that in addition to the running water in the four live rivers of the country, 4.6 million acre ft water was still available in Tarbela and Mangla dams and Chashma reservoir for growing and maturing crops including wheat, grams, lentils, oilseeds, vegetables, fodder and orchards etc in February and March.
2.434 MAF water is available in Tarbela dam on river Indus, 2.094 MAF in Mangla dam on river Jhelum and 0.079 MAF in Chashma barrage, he added. Siddiqui said Punjab Irrigation department has been running canals in central Punjab by drawing 20,000 cusecs water from the Mangla dam and 7,300 cusecs run of the river Chenab water, yet it will open canals emanating from river Indus on 5th February 2014.

He said since the repairs work of the Qadirabad Barrage on the river Chenab and Balloki headwork on the river Ravi is still going on, the irrigation canals taking off from these water regulators would be opened on 5th February to supply water to the districts of Okara, Sahiwal, Pakpattan, Bahawalnagar to water the crops.

According to January 31 rivers flows and reservoirs level report of Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), IRSA is releasing about 70,000 cusecs water in the water ways across the country against the inflow of 36,000 cusecs at the rim stations of the river Indus 14,300 cusecs, river Kabul 8600 cusecs, Jhelum 7,000 and Chenab 7,300 cusecs.

Meanwhile Meteorological department has said that 3 to 4 spells of winter rain/ snowfall are expected during the month of February 2014.The first spell is likely to occur during the first week of February, barani areas of wheat crop may receive good rain during the period.

Source: Business Recorder

Rabi crops may suffer from water stress conditions

Meteorological department has forecast 30 percent less winter rain (January-March) and water stress conditions this year and advised the water managers to use the available water resources judiciously to meet the vital water requirements in the country.
Director General PMD, Dr Arif Mahmood said that largely below normal rainfall but slightly above normal snowfall are expected in winter 2014. Snowfall over the mountainous areas during winter is expected to occur 10-15 percent more than the normal.
He warned that availability of water in rain-fed areas would be limited and thus Rabi crops particularly wheat are likely to suffer from water stress conditions.
Weather forecast for today:
Mainly very cold and partly cloudy weather is expected over most parts of the country with scattered misty and isolated foggy conditions over plain areas of Punjab and upper Sindh.
However, thunder-rain with snowfall over the hills is likely to occur at scattered places of Malakand, Hazara divisions, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. Also, thunder-rain with snowfall over the hills may occur at isolated places of Makran, Quetta, Kalat divisions and Fata. Further, thunder-rain with snowfall over the hills would occur at a few places of Rawalpindi, Kohat, Peshawar, Larkana, Karachi divisions and Islamabad.
Weather forecast for next 48 hrs:
Mainly cold and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country. However cloudy weather with chances of light rain (light snowfall over the hills) expected in Malakand, Hazara divisions, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Coldest places in country:
Astore -13°C, Parachinar -12°C, Skardu & Hunza -10°C, Gupis -09, Kalam & Quetta -08, Gilgit -07, Malamjabba and Kalat -06°C, Rawalakot -04°C.

Source: Business recorder

Immediate steps demanded to ease water shortages

July 24, 2013

Kisan Board Pakistan (KBP) has urged the rulers to take report by a US magazine 'the Atlantic' as an eye opener which has termed the shortage of water as the biggest threat for Pakistan instead of terrorism. KBP President Sardar Zafar Hussain Khan, General Secretary Malik Muhammd Ramzan rohari, Secretary Information Haji Muhammad Ramzan and others in a joint reaction over the American magazine report said that Pakistan, according to US magazine, was among those countries, which had capacity of storing only 30 days of water.
While internationally organisations recommend having water storage of at least 100 days. KBP leaders said that India had already deprived Pakistan of its due share of river water due to ineptness of past rulers and officers of Indus water commission. They stated that recently Indian Supreme Court in its order of joining 30 rivers had further strengthened Indian water aggression against Pakistan. They said completion of this project would totally turn Pakistan in to a barren land and Pakistanis would not have even one drop of water for drinking or agriculture. They said even KBP take shortage of water and Indian water aggression as the biggest problem for Pakistan. They said that rulers in a bid to develop friendly ties with India should not ignore this harsh fact.
KBP high ups demanded that the government should declare water as a national asset and prefer taking steps for meeting the water shortage created due to Indian water aggression. They said once India succeeded in constructing all the dams it planned would deprive Pakistan from power or water forever. They said there was only one solution and that was to immediately construct more dams in Pakistan to resolve the crisis.

Source: Business Recorder

Pakistan to face 31% water shortage by 2025

Water shortage in Pakistan will increase to 31% of people’s needs by 2025 and this underlines the need for some tangible steps, including water usage charges and building of storages, to cope with the problem.

These were the views of speakers at a seminar arranged by the Department of Irrigation and Water Management Research Centre, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) in collaboration with the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (Icarda) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to observe World Water Day here on Friday.

International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Country Representative Dr Mahmood Akhtar Cheema pointed out that India was constructing 11 big dams but Pakistan was still in a fix about building of dams and a breakthrough was yet to be made.

“Owing to climate changes, glaciers are melting. And in the absence of water conservation methods, we are experiencing heavy floods, leading to loss of many lives and damage to agriculture,” he said.

Per capita water availability at the time of creation of Pakistan was 5,600 cubic metres, but it currently stands at only 1,000 cubic metres, placing Pakistan among water-scarce countries. To tackle the situation, Cheema suggested that the government should apply reasonable water usage charges to discourage wastage of the resource.

Icarda Country Head Dr Abdul Majeed emphasised the importance of promoting water conservation techniques by sensitising people and taking fruitful measures. He said Icarda’s strategy combined continuity with change, addressing current problems while expanding focus to emerging challenges such as climate change and desertification.

South Asian Conservation Agriculture Network’s Dr Mushtaq Ahmad Gill was of the view that Pakistan was wasting two-third of its water by following traditional conservation methods and agricultural practices.

Citing examples, he said per capita water availability in the US was 6,000 cubic metres, in Australia 5,500 cubic metres and in China 2,200 cubic metres. In Pakistan, it is only 1,000 cubic metres, posing a threat to people’s lives.

He expressed concern that no authority was working for saving groundwater and suggested that off-channel water reservoirs should be set up to preserve flood water and prevent loss to life and property. “This (saved) water can be used later,” he stressed.

He said Punjab had around 1.3 million tube wells to pump out groundwater, which is bringing down the water level. Eighty per cent of the tube wells were being run on diesel, increasing the cost manifold and requiring application of alternative methods to face the situation, he suggested.

UAF Acting Vice Chancellor Dr Iqbal Zafar said water availability in 2025 would stand at around 100 million acre feet compared to the need of 135 MAF. He stressed the need for increasing water storage capacity to save people’s lives as water resources were shrinking and population was growing rapidly.

To meet the demand for water, he called for kicking off a comprehensive awareness drive to educate people about benefits of judicious consumption and consequences of wastage.

Professor Dr Allah Buksh was of the view that big dams like Kalabagh should be built to save water for coming generations and application of techniques of efficient use of water was the need of the hour to combat water scarcity.

Source: The Express Tribune