LAHORE, March 7: The Punjab on Wednesday questioned the decision of the Indus River System Authority to close down the Taunsa Panjnad Link Canal, describing the action as harmful as well as illegal.

A spokesman for the Irrigation and Power Department claimed that the canal closure amounted to transferring the water share of one province to another in violation of the Water Accord.

The spokesman said Irsa’s justification for the closure was a strange one. It claimed that by Feb 28, the water shortage suffered by the Punjab stood at 43 per cent compared to Sindh’s 49 per cent. This, according to the Irsa, justified diverting Punjab’s share of water to Sindh. The spokesman said the Irsa seemed to have failed to realize that water consumption depends on the cropping pattern.

“Crops in Sindh are sown and mature at least a month earlier than the Punjab. This pattern dictates the usage of water. Once the Punjab uses present supplies for final watering of wheat, water shortage for both provinces would even out. The shortages figures differ every month. For example, shortage for the Punjab stood at 60 per cent compared to 32 per cent for Sindh in October last. The ratio changed to 45:34 in November and 36:41 in December. In January the shortage ratio was 32:44 and in February 43:49. Using the ever-changing monthly statistics as a justification to deprive one province of its share of water hardly makes sense.”

Another employee of the department said that no province used water by an average. If Sindh is allocated 9 million acre feet water for six months of the Rabi season, it would not use 1.5 MAF each month. The use will naturally fluctuate according to the crop pattern. Article 14-D of the 1991 Water Accord allows the provinces to plan use of their share of water according to their need.

An Agriculture Department employee said the closure would jeopardize the wheat crop on around one million acres in Rahim Yar Khan district. Can the country afford to play with the wheat crop at its maturity stage the way Irsa is doing. Any effort to feed the area from Mangla would result in a loss of least 50 per cent of the water and 15 days would be lost on the way.

The crop in southern Punjab can hardly afford that kind of delay. The Water Accord’s Article 14-E that mandates the provinces to take every step to avoid waste of water. The Irsa, he said, should have read the accord before advising the Punjab to feed the areas from Mangla.

The provinces communicate five-day requirement to the Irsa at least four days ahead of the release from dams, a farmer from the southern Punjab observed.

In practical terms, this means that the water the Punjab was getting the day TP Link was closed down had been indented on March 1. Once the Irsa accepted the demand and released water from Tarbela, it could not divert water halfway, that too unilaterally.

Some of the defence requirements in the Cholistan region were being met from the Tarbela command through the TP Canal, another employee of the Irrigation and Power Department said. Given the tension between the two armies, he said, the closure could also affect defence planning.

He said the Irsa should have realized this and consulted the relevant quarters before taking such a myopic and controversial decision.