THATTA, July 9: Standing crop, spreading over three million acres of land, will be badly affected in Thatta and Badin districts due to a 10-day water rotation programme for Kotri Barrage's off-taking canals beginning from July 15 , it was learnt here on Friday.

Giving details, official sources said due to ever declining water level at the Kotri Barrage and consecutive imposition of rotation programme, 487,347 acres if land in the command area of Akram Wah, 929,355 acres of land in the Phulelli Canal command area; 786,355 acres of land in the Pinyari Canal command area and 613,741 acres of land in the command area of K.B. Feeder would be affected.

In the areas, during the current Kharif season, paddy is the main crop which requires regular watering. Other crops are sugarcane, vegetables and banana. The farmers, who had already suffered a lot due to an acute water shortage in downstream Kotri for the last couple of years, said that they would be ruined if the water supply system was not immediately streamlined.

Kotri Barrage chief engineer Ali Hassan Pathan told this correspondent that due to periodical short release of water from Taunsa headworks, lower Sindh would ultimately have to face a water crisis within next two days.

A shortage of 40 to 45 per cent of water was expected at the Kotri Barrage till July 15 if the upstream release of water was not improved, he said. He said that as against the requirement of at least 35,000 cusecs of water at the Kotri Barrage during the current Abkalani season, only 30,000 cusecs of water had been released from the Sukkur Barrage, out of which, after route losses, some 23,000 cusecs of water were expected to reach the Kotri Barrage within a few days.

After June 29, the water position in the River Indus had considerably improved but the abrupt short release of 7,000 cusecs of water from Taunsa again deteriorated it and the Kotri Barrage had to ultimately suffer its aftermath.

Irrigation expert Qazi Abdul Majeed said that violation of the 1991 water accord was root cause of the crisis as Punjab was receiving water according to the 1994 ministerial committee decision.