ISLAMABAD: The federal government on Friday appointed Engineer Sahibzada Muhammad Shabir as the member of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) for three years.

On the notification of his appointment as a member, Mr Shabir immediately assumed the charge of Irsa chairman for one year.

The federal government delayed the appointment of Mr Shabir, who was nominated by KP as its member on Sept 10.

As a consequence, Muhammad Ayaz, the secretary of KP Irrigation Departm-ent, had assumed the role of the province`s member as well as the chairman of the water regulator on October 18.

The position of KP`s Irsa member had been vacant since May 8 following the completion of the four-year term of Engineer Zahid Abbas.

Since then, the KP government failed to nominate his successor. Interestingly, the provincial administration spent six months to appoint its previous member in May 2020.

Under Irsa`s regulations, the chairmanship rotates annually among four provincial members and a federal representative.

The rotation begins with Balochistan, followed by KP, Punjab, Sindh and the federal government.

The post of the chairman fell vacant on Oct 17 after the one-year term of Balochistan`s member, Abdul Hameed Mengal, ended.