July 14, 2002	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 3, 1423

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

LARKANA, July 13: The growers, small Khatedars and landlords have said that despite being declared a calamity-hit area, the revenue staff are collecting tax in Shahdadkot.

The general-secretary of the Sindh Abadgar Board, Larkana district, Mohammad Ishaque Mugihiri, the Nazim of Shahdadkot taluka, Sardar Ali Jarwar, and others demanded to stop the collection of land revenue from calamity-hit areas.

They, at a meeting with the Sindh minister for agriculture and fisheries, Sardar Mohammad Muqeem Khan Khoso, here on Saturday, said the acute shortage of irrigation water had already affected the area and the collection of land revenue and tax would further ruin the growers.

They accused Balochistan officials and elected representatives for forcibly driving away water from the Grang Regulator.

The president of the Sindh-Balochistan Rice Millers and Traders Association, Gada Hussain Mahisar, the president of the Sindh Hari Abadgar Board, Abdul Majeed Shaikh, and others criticized the poor performance of the agriculture department and the closure of the Sindh Seed Corporation.

They were also worried about the millions of tons of wheat lying in the food godowns and called for action against those responsible for this huge loss, where the stocks had come under weevil attack.

The agriculture and fisheries minister assured them of appropriate action and said he would talk to the ministries concerned for the early redress of the problems.

He asked the irrigation officials to ensure proper supply of irrigation water to the tail-ends of Warah, Shahdadkot, Mirokhan, Dokri.

OIL SPILLAGE: More than four acres of land was affected by oil, spilling out of a punctured pipeline, in Naudero late on Thursday.

Police called out PARCO technicians from Shikarpur who carried out repair work before the spillage could cause widespread damage.

It has been gathered that the damage was caused by unknown thieves who tried to steal oil and fled without plugging the hole in the Karachi-Multan pipeline passing through Naudero.

At the same point of the pipeline, thieves had pocked a hole and stolen oil a few days back.

People of the area said that a layer of oil had spread over the nearby lands destroying the recently sown rice seeds.

A case against unknown thieves has been registered at Naudero police station and some suspects were picked up for interrogation.