The water inflow in the Indus River system has dropped to an alarming level of 281,000 cusecs per day from 500,000 recorded last week, and Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has asked the provinces to submit revised water requisitions by Wednesday, sources said on Monday. The authority would start providing water to Punjab and Sindh according to the new water plan from August 1. IRSA had decided to cut water supplies to the provinces by 15 percent, but the provinces rejected the decision saying that it could adversely affect the production of major crops including cotton and rice that are in the maturity period. The authority demanded the requisitions from the provinces after an inter-provincial meeting chaired by IRSA Chairman Bashir Dehr decided in the meeting that the provinces would be provided water in the light of their requisitions. An IRSA senior official told Daily Times that water inflow in the Indus River System has declined due to drop in mercury in the northern areas. The authority released on Monday 111,000 cusecs to Punjab against its indent of 180,000 cusecs and 142,000 cusecs to Sindh against 165,000 cusecs, the official said. It was noted in the meeting that the provinces had faced a 13 percent water shortage in early Kharif, by June end, against the projected 4 percent, the official added. The official, however, said that the authority is providing water to the provinces according to their demand, adding that any shortfall being met from the reservoirs. The storage of water in three major reservoirs stands at 8.27 million-acre feet (MAF), the official said. It stands at 4.6 MAF in Tarbela, 3.4 MAF in Mangla and 0.239 MAF in Chashma, he added. He further said that water inflow in Indus at Tarbela stood at 164,200 cusecs per day with the same outflow level and the inflow at Mangla was 24,800 cusecs per day against an outflow of 15,000 cusecs. The official quoted a Metrological Department official as saying that monsoon rains would start in Sindh during the next two days, while rains are expected in the first two weeks of August in Punjab. Rains will improve the situation, he added.