QUETTA:
A high-level ministerial delegation from Balochistan successfully negotiated a deal with Sindh authorities to address the province’s severe water shortages, providing a lifeline to thousands of desperate farming families.
In a crucial meeting held in Karachi, both sides agreed on long-term cooperation and immediate increase in water supplies to resolve the inter-provincial dispute.
Irrigation of Balochistan
Minister Mir Muhammad Sadiq Umrani, who led the visiting team alongside provincial ministers Saleem Ahmed Khosa and Muhammad Khan Lehri, stressed that the breakthrough was vital for regional stability.
“Our farmers are facing a catastrophic situation with their crops at stake,” Umrani said. “Leaders are fully aware of these concerns, and we are fiercely committed to ensuring that Balochistan receives its exact constitutional and agreed share of water without delay.”
Responding to the emergency, Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro reassured his counterparts that Sindh was fully involved in stabilizing shared supply lines, despite its own regulatory hurdles at the federal level.
“We deeply understand the plight of the farming communities of Balochistan,” Shoro said. “Sindh is committed to cooperation and we will ensure that around 9,000 cusecs of water is maintained through the Pat Feeder Canal to protect these vital crops, true to the spirit of the 1991 Water Accord.”
The deal comes as Balochistan’s fields are drying up and local producers are seeing their livelihoods wither.
Across the Kirthar Canal Command Area, farming communities have been staging protests for weeks, warning that the severe lack of irrigation is putting growing crops in immediate danger and threatening families with financial ruin.
According to a report published in The Express PK Press Club on July 5, the Balochistan government was considering taking legal action against the Sindh government for “unfair” distribution of canal water after repeated contacts with the Sindh chief minister and other authorities failed to ensure that the province received its approved share.
Superintendent Engineer of Pat Feeder Canal, Mudassar Khoso, had said that although the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) reported better water availability, the Sindh Irrigation Department was still supplying Balochistan with 46 per cent less water than its allocated share.
He said Balochistan was receiving only 0.365 million acre feet (MAF) of water against its allocated share of 0.678 MAF, leaving a deficit of 0.310 MAF.
Khoso told RD-109, Balochistan needed 6,700 cusecs of water
but he only received 4,096 cusecs. Similarly, in RD-102, the province received only 1,050 cusecs against a demand of 2,400 cusecs.
He said he had earlier written to the relevant authorities seeking a review of water flows allocated to Balochistan, but received a response contrary to official procedures and administrative ethics.
