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Flood flows have improved water availability at Sindh's three major barrages in 2026, but tail-end farmers in lower Sindh continue to report acute shortages well into late July. IRSA's reservoir-filling priorities, WAPDA's Tarbela Dam rehabilitation works, and chronic internal irrigation governance failures have all contributed to the crisis.
Construction works inside Tarbela Dam's tunnels have disrupted Indus River water releases during the 2026 kharif season, leaving Sindh's paddy growers without enough irrigation water to transplant seedlings. The shortfall has triggered an interprovincial dispute, with Balochistan blaming Sindh for withholding due water shares from Guddu and Sukkur barrages.
WAPDA reports that Tarbela Dam has generated 586 billion units of electricity and delivered $460 billion in economic benefits to Pakistan in the 50 years since 1974. The dam's fifth extension, backed by $690 million from the World Bank and AIIB, is under active construction and will raise total installed capacity from 4,888MW to 6,418MW.
Pakistan's Central Development Working Party publicly rebuked WAPDA on Thursday over massive cost overruns and transparency failures on the Diamer-Bhasha Dam and Tarbela 5th Extension projects. The Tarbela 5th Extension alone has ballooned from an original Rs82 billion estimate to Rs316.4 billion and has been referred to ECNEC for urgent review.