Pakistan is bracing for some tough days ahead as the country’s water system is likely to witness a dip in the next  24-48 hours, media reports said.

The dip in the water system may hit the sowing of cotton in Punjab and cause damage to the same crop in Sindh, which is at maturity level, IBNS said.

And if the dip lasts for 7-8 days, then Tarbela Dam will hit the dead level once again, relevant officials at the Ministry of Water Resources told The News International.

“If this happens, then the water shortage will swell up to 25-30 percent against the current 18 percent shortages being provided to Sindh and Punjab. The stored water in dams as of today has tumbled by 85 percent compared with water storages last year," officials told the newspaper.

“Right now, we have just 1.054 million acre feet (MAF) of water which is stored in dams against 7.1 MAF last year and the reduction in water flows in the system has also increased by 22 percent compared with inflows in the Indus system last year,” the officials said.