Observer Report Islamabad
The Balochistan government on Tuesday warned that it will cut off Karachi’s water supply from Hub Dam, as the provinces quarrel over water shortage.
Balochistan government’s spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani, addressing a press conference in Islama-bad, blamed the Sindh government for releasing less water to his province.
“Sindh is supplying 42% less water to Balochistan […] the province is getting only 7,000 cusecs of water from Sindh,” the spokesperson said.
“Chief Minister Sindh (Murad Ali Shah) had re-fused to provide Balochistan its due share of water,” he claimed.
The spokesperson claimed that due to Sindh’s “stub-bornness,” the province was suffering a loss of Rs75-77 billion. “The Sindh government is hell-bent on turning Balochistan’s lands dry.”
Shahwani claimed Sindh had not provided Balochis-tan with its complete share of water in the last 20 years, yet it continues to complain that Punjab has not provided 17% of its share to Sindh.
“Our due right share, according to the Indus River System Authority, is 10,900 cusecs, including a shortfall of 30% which is 14,000 cusecs, but Sindh is providing 7,000 cusecs water,” he said.
He said the Balochistan government already brought up the issue at various forums but the Sindh gov-ernment “consistently denied facilitating it.”
A day earlier, Chairman Indus River System Au-thority (IRSA) Rao Irshad Ali Khan had said the country’s reservoirs had received 62% less water than estimated this year.
The IRSA chairman made the statement during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Com-mittee on Water Resources, with Nawab Yousuf Talpur in the chair.
The IRSA chairman, while briefing the committee, berated the Sindh government and said that on the one hand, it opposes constructing new dams and on the other, it demands additional water supply.
