Chitral Times Report
ISLAMABAD: There was no official statement from IRSA or any of its officials on Thursday the 20th of December 2018 about the water shortage, except issuance of daily water data of dams and barrages on IRSA official web site. Rather, the water shortage situation was on-going / prevalent since the start of current Rabi season 2018-19 and all stakeholders had been fully informed by IRSA during IRSA Advisory Committee Meeting held on 01.10.2018. No Official from IRSA issued any formal statement that the declining water levels in Tarbela and Mangla reservoirs could lead to severe scarcity in Pakistan. The declining levels are almost as predicted by IRSA during the current Rabi season 2018-19. The water levels are correctly depicted in the news item. The levels are being monitored closely and releases from both the reservoirs are being regulated by IRSA as per approved criteria. The statement quoted in Para 4 of the News item was wrongly attributed to IRSA. No such official statement was issued by IRSA. However, Tarbela reservoir was filled to maximum conservation level of 1550 (fasl) by adopting optimized regulation by IRSA, whereas Mangla reservoirs could only be filled to 1179 (fasl) due to drought conditions. IRSA fully endorses the decision by Supreme Court of Pakistan to immediately start construction of Basha and Mohmand dams.
