Sharjeel Memon urges Centre to act on Irsa cut in Sindh water share

KARACHI: Sindh Senior Minister Sharjeel Inam Memon on Sunday called on the federal government to intervene over what he described as an unjust reduction in Sindh’s water share by the Indus River System Authority (Irsa), and said the province must receive its due allocation.

Sindh has been facing a 22 per cent water shortage for the past 10 days as Irsa continues efforts to equalise shortages between Punjab and Sindh. Earlier, Irsa Director Operations Khalid Idrees Rana told Dawn that the authority was adjusting what he described as excessive use of water by Sindh and was trying to bring shortages in the two provinces to the same level by June 10.

He also said river conditions were not satisfactory at present, but added that with rising temperatures, there was hope that water releases could be increased shortly. In a post on X, Memon said Irsa’s continued disregard for Sindh’s concerns and the reduction in the province’s share under the pretext of shortage equalisation was unacceptable.

Memon further said the move was against the spirit of the 1991 Water Accord and urged the Centre to take notice of the matter.