MIRPURKHAS, Nov 3: The farmers’ representatives have expressed resentment over exclusion of direct outlets from canals from the irrigation department’s rotation programme.

They said that the department had been implementing the rotation programme by closing distributaries at the time of acute shortage of water, to provide water to the land at tail-end of the waterways.

They said that the land, irrigated through the direct outlets from canals, was getting regular water supply but the land along the distributaries was facing acute shortage of water.

The general secretary of the Sindh Abadgar Board, Imtiaz Panwhar, the president of the Sindh Agriculture Growers Development Association, Rais Ahmed Khan, and the general secretary, Mohammad Khan Leghari, were speaking at a press conference.

Criticizing the rotation programme, they deplored that the crop cultivation had decreased by 80 per cent as compared to the last year because of continuous shortage of water.

They demanded of the Sindh governor and the irrigation secretary to ensure judicious implementation of the rotation programme.

They also called for putting an immediate end to water theft and repairing the tampered water outlets.

They threatened to launch a protest campaign if nothing was done in this regard.