Crops to suffer due to delayed decision on water distribution
By Razi Syed
KARACHI: Week-long delay in meeting between Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Punjab Chief Minister, Shahbaz Sharif to sort out the issue of water between Punjab and Sindh would cause heavy damage to the standing crops of cotton, rice and other major crops.
“It may take a month or even longer to take any concrete measure in order to safeguard the interests of growers in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab”, Sindh Assembly Member and patron in Chief of Pakistan Cotton Ginners Association (PCGA), Rana Abdul Sattar said Friday.
The CM Punjab has constituted a special committee for the water distribution issue and said he would not compromise on a single drop of water share of Punjab. Yousaf Raza Gilani has also convened a meeting next week to resolve the row between Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan over water distribution. PM said all stakeholders would be invited to the meeting including Federal Minister for Water and Power, Pervaiz Ashraf and Sindh representatives.
The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) Board members from Sindh, Balochistan and representative of the federal government expressed their strong reservation over opening of (Chashma-Jhelum) CJ Link Canal by acting chairman IRSA, Shafqat Masood.
The Punjab government in a recent development demanded of the federal government that Punjab needs 3,000 cusecs more water to cater its irrigation needs.
Rana Sattar said due to delay in taking any decision in resolving water distribution issue would affect around 1.57 million bales of cotton in Punjab and around 1 million cotton bales in Sindh in this crop season.
He maintained Balochistan would also suffer in the form of a loss in cotton production of around 40,000 cotton bales this crop season.
The Punjab government on the pretext of dialogue has released more than 35,000 cusecs water from CJ Link Canal during 23 days due to delay in talks.
“Water theft is on the rise in Punjab and other provinces are not getting their due share of irrigation water”. According to sources, Punjab Irrigation Department has ruled out the allegations by Sindh regarding water theft, saying that Sindh could not prove the alleged water theft of even a single cusec on Punjab. Senior member Sindh Agriculture Forum (SAF), Shakeel Ahmad said the standing crop of cotton in their final stages in Sindh and Punjab including Lodhran, Arifwala, Chichawatni and Pak Pattan besides some parts of Sahiwal would suffer.
A waste cotton crop area in upper Sindh would suffer if water was not released within a couple of weeks, he added.
Besides crops of dates in Khairpur, Sukkur and Pano Aqil have already been suffering and virus attack has destroyed 40 percent of the crops only due to ‘no release of irrigation water’ in time by April 15. Punjab has faced water shortage of around 30 percent while Sindh suffered 35 percent till February 15, Irrigation Department sources said.
