Punjab rejects KP’s demand for Rs 119 billion compensation

ISLAMABAD: Punjab has rejected the demand of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) seeking compensation of Rs 119 billion for its unutilised water used by Punjab and other provinces from its share from 1992-93 to 2012-13.
It has also opposed the KP demand for introducing changes in the Irsa Act, arguing that it would reopen an already-settled mater of the Water Apportionment Accord, reveal the minutes of a meeting of a committee constituted by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) on making an amendment to the Irsa Act.
When KP had moved the Council of Common Interests, seeking Rs 119 billion complementation from Punjab and other provinces against the usage of its unutilised water from its share with the demand for an amendment to the Irsa Act, the CCI formed the committee headed by Federal Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif and comprising Water and Power Secretary Younas Dagha, Ministry of Water and Power Addition Secretary Hassan Nasir Jamy, Joint Secretary Mehr Ali Shah, Sindh Irrigation Secretary Zaheer Shah, Balochistan Irrigation Secretary Sher Zaman, KP Irrigation Secretary Muhammad Naeem, Punjab Irrigation Secretary and Irsa Member Rao Irshad and Planning Commission Water Chief Naseer Ali Gillani.
The committee, which met on June 23, 2015, decided that the provinces should settle the issue themselves and KP should develop its infrastructure to tap its full share instead of asking for an amendment to the Irsa Act 1992.
According to the minutes, the KP secretary said the province had been given a share of 8.78 million acre feet of water out of 117.35 MAF water of the Indus River System Authority
under the Water Apportionment Accord (WAA) 1992. “So far KP is utilising about 5.78 MAF of water due to lack of irrigation structure. And the average less utilisation is 34 per cent of the share, owing to which the compensation for the water used by Punjab and other provinces from its share has been worked out at Rs 119 billion for the period from 1992-93 to 2012-13.” under the Water Apportionment Accord (WAA) 1992. “So far KP is utilising about 5.78 MAF of water due to lack of irrigation structure. And the average less utilisation is 34 per cent of the share, owing to which the compensation for the water used by Punjab and other provinces from its share has been worked out at Rs 119 billion for the period from 1992-93 to 2012-13.”
The Balochistan secretary said Balochistan’s share was 3.87 MAF, out of which 3.050 MAF was being utilised since 1991-92, but the remaining share (0.812 MAF) was not utilised due to lack of irrigation infrastructure. He asked for Rs 2 billion to improve the existing canal and drainage system of Balochistan.
The Punjab Irsa member, while referring to para 14 (e) of the WAA, did not agree with KP’s assertion that Punjab and other provinces are liable to pay compensation for water usage. He said despite KP’s assertion, it is a fact that Punjab experienced shortages during Kharif and Rabi seasons. He said a significant part of KP’s unutilised water flew into the sea through Kotri Barrage. He emphasised that KP’s proposal for amending the Irsa Act or Water Apportionment Accord should not be considered, otherwise it would reopen an already-settled matter.
The Sindh secretary endorsed Punjab’s view and stated that the contention of the KP government was not justifiable. According to the minutes, the present storage capacity of reservoirs including Mangla Dam has been reduced to 14.12 MAF from the original capacity of 15.72 MAF at the time of the commissioning of the Tarbela Dam in 1976. While achieving consensus on the accord, the provinces had been assured that their existing usages derived by the Haleem Commission would remain protected. He said the water share of Punjab stood at 54.52 MAF, Sindh 43.53 MAF, KP 3.07 MAF and Balochistan 1.63 MAF. He argued that as per averages from 1992, Punjab and Sindh were getting 9 per cent and 7 per cent respectively in comparison to their average usage due to diminishing storage capacity while KP was getting 36 per cent more than its historical usage. He said when Punjab and Sindh were not even getting their average share, how they could be accused of using KP’s share.
The Planning Commission representative also endorsed the Punjab and Sindh representatives, saying that there was no need to reopen the Water Apportionment Accord.