IRSA's Technical Body To Meet In Last Week Of March To Determine Water Reserves For Kharif Season

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published March 21, 2023 | 11:30 AM

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Mar, 2023 ) :The Technical Committee of the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) will meet in the last week of March to determine water availability for the coming Kharif season, starting from April 1.

The meeting will be presided over by the IRSA Director Operation while the directors of the irrigation department of Punjab and Sindh, superintendent engineers, chief hydrologist and other senior officials will be in attendance.

The technical committee will recommend the anticipated water availability in the country. The recommendations will be forwarded to the Advisory Committee of the Authority for making the final decisions about the water availability for the Kharif season.

Official sources told APP here on Tuesday that the IRSA's Advisory Committee would meet in the first week of April to give final approval.

The sources said that currently, water inflow in the rivers had improved owing to the rainy spell. The Water Accord 1991 empowered IRSA to determine water availability in the country and provincial share twice a year, once for the Kharif season and the other for the Rabi season.

Rabi season starts from October 01, while Kharif starts from April 01. Since Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were exempted from cuts in the share, the shortage in water would be distributed between Sindh and Punjab.