Country braces for 25pc Rabi water shortage

Pakistan anticipates a 25% shortfall in water supply during the upcoming Rabi season, which is set to begin this week, potentially impacting food security for the year, as wheat is the primary crop during this period. The last Rabi season did not experience water scarcity, yet it saw a significant wheat shortfall of over two million tonnes, prompting the government to import one million tonnes of wheat, with 750,000 tonnes arriving in November.

This production gap occurs as the country aims to produce 29.7 million tonnes of wheat, while consuming 31.9 million tonnes. A substantial portion of the expected Rabi water shortage is attributed to political decisions made by the coalition government, with over one million acre-feet (MAF) of water released from reservoirs during the Kharif season deemed unnecessary.

Despite reservoirs reaching a peak of 11.6MAF on September 9, with Tarbela at full capacity and Mangla at 5.733MAF, both reservoirs began to deplete, leaving total storage below the 9.5MAF threshold ahead of the Rabi season, the lowest since 2021. The Rabi season, which runs from October 1 to March 31, is anticipated to commence at a carryover storage level of 10.5MAF, marking a stark contrast to the previous year's healthy carryover of 13MAF.