ISLAMABAD - Indus River system Authority has said Sindh is already getting its 500 cusecs water for Karachi from the Irsa under the water-sharing accord, but if Council of Common Interests permits extra water, they will have no objection to it.
Sindh was already getting 500 cusecs of water under the 1991 water accord for Karachi water supply, an Irsa official said, while briefing a meeting here Monday. He, however, added CCI was a competent forum to decide on the demand of the province for the increased supply. The ministry of water and power had convened a meeting to chalk out its set of recommendations for the CCI meeting to be held today (Tuesday).
The meeting which was presided over by the water and power secretary also discussed the Baluchistan complaint against Sindh’s province for not providing its share of water from Kirthar Canal, an official source told The Nation.
A summary of the Sindh government regarding supply of 1,200 cusecs water from the Indus River System and Balochistan’s summary regarding shortage of its share of water from Pat Feeder and Kirthar Canal is on the agenda of the CCI meeting. Balochistan had earlier lodged a complaint with Irsa that Sindh was denying legitimate share of water to the province and was stealing its water from the Pat Feeder Canal. The province lodged another complaint last month regarding water theft from Kirthar Canal. Since Irsa has failed to resolve the disputes between both the provinces, it has been decided to refer the matter to the CCI. Balochistan says since Sindh is using its share, it should be asked to provide the cost of its water.
In the meeting held at the ministry of water and power, Irsa took the plea that the authority had tried to resolve the issue between Sindh and Balochistan, but to no avail. An Irsa official briefed the meeting on the efforts it had made to resolve the issue and said that CCI was the best forum to do the needful.