Water crisis following poor monsoon rains

Pakistan's supply of irrigation water has dropped significantly after the country received almost 50 percent less rain than normal during the current monsoon season, according to an official of the country's meteorological department. "July's rainfall was far less than normal. On the other hand, colder temperatures [below normal] in catchment areas in June and July have adversely affected the glacier-melting, contributing to lesser snow melt to our dams and reservoirs," Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, the head of Pakistan's meteorological department, told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, on Monday. The water shortage has also adversely affected the seasonal harvest. Agricultural experts fear 20 to 25 percent less production of the South Asian nation's two main cash crops of rice and cotton. "Normally, we get 140 billion acre-feet water every year for irrigation, including 104 billion acre-feet from river flow and 35 billion acre-feet ground water," chief research officer for the National Agricultural Research Council (NARC), Dr Zahid Hussain, told IRIN in Islamabad. "This year the water availability figure has fallen to 108 billion acre-feet with only 70-74 billion-acre feet from river flow," Dr Hussain added. "Irrigational channels are facing less flow as the water level in our dams is critical. Tarbela, the country's largest reservoir, has [a level of] 1,422 feet against a maximum capacity of 1,550 feet. Mangla is no different with 1,150 feet against a maximum 1,206 feet," Chaudhry explained. "[The] main harvesting areas of northern Punjab received a 50 percent cut while central Punjab received 80 percent less than normal rainfall. Sindh and Balochistan present a disappointing picture with 100 percent absent rains so far," Hussain highlighted. "We need a strong flood producing system to overcome the shortage. This looks impossible since we are passing through a dry climate cycle," Chaudhry added. According to meteorologists, global weather keeps changing between dry and wet weather patterns. The area extending from South Asia to Far East Asia has been under a dry spell since 1999. "The overall monsoon rainfall pattern has been disturbed badly during the ongoing season. From Bangladesh to East Asia it behaved normally. But the winds driving the monsoon were not strong enough to reach to Pakistan," said Muhammad Hanif, a meteorologist working in the national met office. Rainfall is critical for the agriculture-based economy of Pakistan. "Rainfall activity in August is expected to be close to normal. But the backlog created by lesser July rains won't be covered up, which will ultimately hit the agricultural output in the coming season," Chaudhry said.