Former chief minister of Balochistan Mir Jan Mohammad Jamali, MPA, Mir Dostain Khan Domki, MPA Tariq Magsi, Advisor Haji Khan Lehri, MPAs namely Majid Abro, Mir Asim Kurd, Izhar Hussain Khoso, Secretary Irrigation Balochisrtan Saleem Awan assisted Zehri while Sindh chief minister was assisted by provincial ministers namely Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani, Manzoor Wassan, Dr Sikandar Mendhro and Jam Mehtab Dahar and Secretary Irrigation Junaid Memon.
The inter-provincial issues between Sindh and Balochistan as raised by former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Jamali on behalf of Balochistan government included short supplies of water in Pat Feeder and Khirthar Canal, removal of encroachment from Pat Feeder embankments, pumping of drainage effluent into Khirthar Canal, delay in timely completion of RBOD-III projects and inequitable distribution of Hub Dam storage (water). The chief minister Sindh responded to him made decisions on the said issues.
Short Supplies at pat Feeder, Khirthar Canal: Sindh Chief Minister said Balochistan province gets water mainly through Pat Feeder Canal off-taking from Guddu Barrage and Khirthar Canal of North-western Canal off-taking from Sukkur Barrage. Besides that Balochistan province is also getting water from Uch which has a design discharge of 700 cusecs, and Manuthi Canal with design discharge of 600 cusecs, off-taking from Desert Canal and from more than 50 direct outlets with design discharge of about 727.55 cusecs from Desert Canal and Begari Canal at Guddu barrage.
Shah said that there was no complaint or little complaint regarding supplies of water from Guddu Barrage. He said that in fact, Sindh is supplying more water than water accord share of Balochistan so far as water supplies from Direct Outlets are concerned. However, he admitted, there are some complaints of shortage of water from Khirthar Canal of Sukkur Barrage. Giving reason of the shortage, he said, a pond level has developed at Sukkur Barrage, therefore North-western Canal and Dadu Canal could not draw their full discharge. As a result, entire system in Sindh and Balochistan suffer water shortage.
Murad Shah who also holds portfolio of Irrigation Minister proposed to constitute a two-member committee comprising the secretaries of Irrigation departments of both provinces to study the ways and means to solve this issue. The chief minister Balochistan welcomed the decision and said "we both are brothers and would solve all of issues amicably," he said. Sindh chief minister said in a lighter vein that his Balochistan's counterpart mostly lives in Sindh, therefore Sindh has equal right on him as well.
Removal of Encroachment: Zehri said that there were encroachments on the Pat Feeder Canal embankments from RD-0 to RD125 portion of Sindh; therefore there were a lot of issues of de-silting. The flow of water has been affected badly. Murad Shah said that main Pat Feeder Canal from 0 to 172 km is being re-modelled and widened for additional discharge of 1860 cusecs to enable Balochistan government to irrigate 205,000 acres in tail-end areas of District Nasirabad and Jhal Magsi. He directed Commissioner Larkana to remove encroachments in consultation with Balochistan government.
Pumping of Drainage effluent into Khirthar Canal by Sindh: Balochistan chief minister said that the Sindh province pumps huge quantity of drainage effluent of Shikarpur, Larkana and Garhi Yasin drains in into NW Canal at RD-83 and RD-152. He added that the saline water has affected the quality of water in the command of Khirthar Canal causing water-borne diseases as well as affecting the crop production.
Sindh chief Minister said that about 350 cusecs drainage effluent is being pumped into NW Canal which is about 4 percent of the drain capacity of NW canal and normally 'punchoo' water (drain water of rice crop) is disposed off in NW canal and this water is also distributed to the command area of Sindh and no loss has been recorded in terms of production. He added that test report of Tando Jam Lab of water sample taken from Garang RD-102 shows that the water is fit for irrigation purposes.
Delay in completion of the RBOD-III: Balochistan chief minister raised the issue of completion of RBOD-III that is aimed at passing 765 cusecs of drainage effluent of Balochistan, 600 cusecs from Hiarudin Pump Station and 165 cusecs of Chukhi, but work has been delayed, as a result the lands of Balochistan are destroying. Sindh chief minister said that the work on RBOD-II being carried out by Wapda has been halted due to shortage of funds and this is the project of federal government, therefore Sindh cannot do anything in this regard. He further said that without completing the RBOD-II, Wapda cannot take up the RBOD-III. However, he has some reports that the project has been sent to ECNEC for approval. He said that the residents of Shahdadkot (Sindh) have great reservations regarding the passing of effluent of Balochistan from their main drain and it would destroy their green belt of rice and paddy crop.
Shah said that after holding a number of meetings of Sindh and Balochistan with federal government it has been decided that Hairdin Carrier Drain-I, Hairdin Carrier-II, Outfall as per new alignment and Baroon saifullah, would be constructed for additional drainage water from Balochistan.
Nawab Sanaullah Zehri urged Murad Shah to allow opening of one additional siphon to pass Balochistan effluent through RBOD-III. The latter agreed to the proposal and directed the secretary Irrigation to visit the areas and report him before opening the other siphon.
Inequitable distribution of Hub Dam Water: Balochistan chief minister said that 72% catchment area of Hub Dam is in Balochistan and 28 percent in Sindh. But Sindh is utilizing 63% of its water wile Balochistan takes 37 percent. He said that the sharing formula was finalized in 1980s when industrial and drinking water requirement of Hub area was at the lowest. He urged his counterpart to retaionalise the distribution of stored water.
Sindh chief minister said that there was no such agreed water distribution formula on record. He said the maintenance and operation of Hub Dam lies with Wapda. He directed secretary Irrigation to give him a detailed report so that distribution of storage water could be made, accordingly.
The two chief ministers agreed to hold another high-level meeting in Quetta in March to review the progress of the decisions taken in the Thursday's meeting. Sindh chief minister hosted a luncheon in honour of the delegation of Balochistan. He presented a memento, ajraks, Sindhi caps and the CDs of Sindhi music to them.
Copyright Pakistan Press International, 2017