The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) in its meeting on Monday failed to develop consensus on reduced provincial water shares, as Sindh refused to accept any reduction in its share at this stage. However, the final decision is expected on Tuesday, after the representatives of Sindh and Punjab would convey the response of their respective provinces in the meeting.

The Irsa had convened an internal meeting to discuss water usage of provinces between April 1 and June 15 and to incorporate changes in respective shares in the light of water availability situation. Sources in Irsa confirmed that water was going to downstream Kotri, but refused to give the quantity, saying that it was not possible to disclose the details before reaching any conclusion.

They said that outflow at Tarbella has declined from 160,000 cusecs to 150,000 cusecs whereas at Mangla it had increased to 35,000 cusecs from 30,000 cusecs.

According to these sources, the provinces had utilised 17.109 MAF in early Kharif season, of which the share of Punjab was 10.525 MAF, Sindh 5.924 MAF, NWFP, 0.423 MAF and Balochistan 0.238 MAF.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2006