June 10, 2002	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 28,1423

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QUETTA, June 9: The Sindh Irrigation Department is denying water share to Balochistan by obstructing the normal flow to Kirthar Canal and two other smaller canals in Naseerabad District, an official claimed here.

Northwest Canal and Saifullah Magsi Canal are under the control of the Sindh irrigation Department.

He said officials claiming water shortage were denying the legitimate share of Balochistan, which was agreed in the 1991 Water Accord that Indus water would be shared among the provinces.

The Indus River System Authority had paid no heed to the issue, despite several complaints by Balochistan, he added.

It was an irony, the official said, that on the one hand the department was accusing Punjab of denying water to Sindh while on the other it was obstructing the flow of water to Balochistan.

Growers and landowners of the province in Naseerabad— the only canal-irrigated district of Balochistan— have registered a protest to both the federal and provincial governments at a time when the sowing of cotton and paddy is about to start.

They also approached the Sindh Irrigation Department, demanding immediate release of canal water to Balochistan and other minor canals.

“Only 35 per cent of paddy crop came under sowing this season due to shortage of water,” a grower told this scribe. “Same will be the situation for cotton, and the government may fail to achieve its target of cultivating cotton on 150,000 acres,” he added.

The growers have appealed to President Pervez Musharraf, IRSA chief, Balochistan and Sindh governors to get released the water share of the province at the time of sowing of cotton and paddy.