Islamabad:
Indus River System Authority (IRSA) projected 43% water shortage on Wednesday for April, as it recorded less than normal influx in the RIM station rivers after a 31% smaller snowfall in the drainage areas of Indus and Jhelum this winter.
The IRSA Advisory Committee (IAC) met Wednesday to discuss the water accessibility situation for the Kharif 2025 season. However, due to unclear climatic parameters and weather forecasts for the summer, it only approved water availability for April with 43% system deficit.
The IAC meeting was held with IRSA chairman and member Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) SaHibzada Muhammad Shabir in the chair. According to a distribution issued after the meeting, IAC met again in the first week of May 2025 to review the water availability.
The meeting was expected to approve the expected criteria for water availability for the entire Kharif season (30 April-September 30). It also reviewed Rabi 2024-25 (October 1, 31, System operations and showed satisfaction with the season close to 18% deficiency against an expected 16%.
The meeting attended all IRSA members, relevant engineers, the affected secretaries, senior officials in the provincial irrigation departments, senior technical advisers for Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and others.
During the meeting, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) emphasized that according to local and global climate models in the months of April, May and June, during normal rainfall and above normal temperatures, especially across northern and southern tips of the country, were predicted.
PMD further noted that winter snowfall in the drainage of Indus and Jhelum was registered at 26.8 inches against the normal of 49.7 inches, ie. 31% less, while the influx of the RIM-Station Rivers would also be less than usual.
After detailed discussion, IAC only approved the water availability in April 2025 with 43% system deficit, the distribution stated. The water situation is reviewed again in the first week of May 2025, it added.
Separately, PMD chief of meteorologist Muhammad Afzal said the country was facing an unusual weather pattern, which led to serious drought conditions and warned that an alarming decline in winter’s rainfall pushed dams and water reservoirs to dead levels.
When he spoke at a press conference, Afzal said winter rainfall was 42% below normal, with Sindh receiving 63% less rain, Balochistan 53% and Punjab 41%. He added that falling water levels in dams and other reservoirs raised concerns about the water availability of agriculture and household.
Afzal warned that under-Normal rainfall was expected in the northern regions, which worsened the water crisis. The deficiency can lead to crop errors, spreading diseases and a negative effect on wildlife. He urged the public to use water wisely to mitigate the crisis.
“Pakistan is expected to be exposed to significant temperature increases in the coming months, with forecasts indicating that temperatures may rise by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius above normal levels. This will increase the likelihood of heat waves, especially in the southern half of the country,” he said. (With input from app)
