Water shortage in 2 reservoirs in Pakistan, Tarbela, Mangla dams rapidly approaching 'dead levels'

Pakistan's Indus River System Authority (Irsa) has warned that there would be a water shortage and up to 35 per cent less water will be available for crops this season.

There is said to be a water shortage in two reservoirs, and the Tarbela and Mangla dams are rapidly approaching "dead levels".

The warning comes as the staple food crop of wheat approaches its prime when it needs more water to bring more produce.

Irsa’s Director of Regulation Khalid Idrees Rana said that "provinces of Punjab and Sindh may face a shortfall of 30-35pc while operating the reservoirs on run-of-the-river mode at or around dead levels".

The latest data shows that Tarbela Dam had only 73,000 acre-feet of water storage, with its level recorded at 1,409 feet, just nine feet above its dead level of 1,400 feet.

The dam, which has a maximum storage level of 1,550 feet, was receiving 17,000 cusecs of inflow against an outflow of 20,000 cusecs on Friday.

Both the reservoirs are depleting fast and Irsa has said that they might touch their dead levels soon.

As per a report by The Times Of India, any decrease in water from India's side will lead to issues related to farming operations before monsoon, an official stated. The Kharif farming has begun in Pakistan's Punjab province and received decreased cusecs of water compared to last year, the report stated.

India has said that it will not engage with Pakistan on Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) till New Delhi's concerns regarding terrorism are addressed and the pact is completely revamped

Sources said Pakistan's Water Resources Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza has reached out multiple times, urging India to reconsider the decision to put the IWT in abeyance.

India placed the 1960 IWT in abeyance following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack, in which 26 people were killed.

Brokered by the World Bank, the IWT has governed the distribution and use of the water of the Indus river and its tributaries between India and Pakistan since 1960.

(With PTI inputs)