June 23, 2002	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 11, 1423

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DADU, June 22: Sindh Governor Mohammedmian Soomro has said that the Thatta and Dadu sugar mills would be privatized soon and government was taking efforts to sell them to a good party

He was speaking at ground-breaking ceremony of the water pumping scheme of the Johi Branch at RD-77 near Khanpur town on Saturday.

He said that Nai Gaj dam and Sehwan barrage will be constructed to store water and cultivate barren lands.

Mr Soomro said that water availability in the River Indus was improving day by day.

He said that the Sindh government was trying to change old system of irrigation and provide water to waterways through new system and also to control water theft incidents. The governor urged the growers to help his government change the old system of irrigation.

He said that the government had provided a good amount to improve irrigation system of Sindh.

He deplored that Manchhar Lake was destroyed due to disposal of the saline water of the MNV Drain into it. He said that after completion of the RBOD project, saline water of the MNV drain would be diverted towards sea.

Mr Soomro said that the desilting programmes would be initiated in the Rice, Nara and other canals and work would be launched soon to improve the irrigation system.

Speaking on the occasion Dadu District Nazim Malik Asad Sikandar said that with the construction of the Sehwan barrage Badin and Thatta districts would face difficulties whereas Dadu district would not get benefit from the barrage. He opined that the feasibility report of the Sehwan barrage was not correct.

He said that the Sindh government should cancel the project of Sehwan barrage and instead use the money, to be spent on it, on the construction of Nai Gaj dam, Daoo Darar dam and other small dams and remodelling of Rice and Dadu canals.

Meanwhile on the directives of the Sindh governor, provincial irrigation secretary Mir Mohammad Parhiar suspended acting executive engineer of southern division, Dadu, Salahuddin Abbasi, after growers complained of water shortage in the Khudawah waterway.