LARKANA, March 12: Highly saline water from the Heerdin Drain in Balochistan, which enters into Sindh near a place called Chukhee, has ruined thousands of acres of arable land in Shahdadkot area.

This was stated by the secretary of Sindh Abadgar Board, Ishaque Mugheiri, on Tuesday while talking to this correspondent during a visit to the site, some 70 kilometres East from here.

Villagers contacted by this correspondent said that the water, whose salinity bordered toxic levels, had rendered 18,500 acres of land completely barren during the past seven years.

The land, they added, had previously been a prime wheat producing area.

Villagers said that the flow of heavily saline water had not only ruined lands in Shahdadkot area but had also destroyed lands in the Kambar and Warah talukas as well as ruining the Hamal and Sarooh lakes and the flood protective embankment.

Mr Mughiri, detailing the route of the saline water, said that its unchecked flow raises the salinity level of the Hamal Lake before entering into the Manchhar Lake through the Main Nara Valley Drain.

Abdul Sattar Chandio, one of the residents of the Doda Khan Chandio village — which is situated near the foothills of the Khairthar Mountains — said that the continuous flow of saline water had accumulated in a three-kilometre-long depressed area, ruining lands and cutting through the three talukas of Larkana.

He said that previously these areas, spread over 30 square- kilometres, were irrigated by 24 distributaries of the Rabi Minor irrigation channel, originating from the Saifullah Magsi branch.

District Nazim Khursheed Ahmed Junejo had also visited the area on Tuesday to assess the damage.

It was learnt that while apprising him about the situation, the local residents criticized the Sindh government for not having resisted the construction of the drain at its outset, saying the damage would have been minimal if the construction had been handled intelligently.

Villagers, braving hard days for the past seven years, told this correspondent that only a simple channel was needed for draining out the almost-toxic water and save a large number of population from further sufferings.

Sattar Chandio of the Bagodaro union council said that the people of the area were prone to frequent attacks of diarrhoea while animals were more susceptible of contracting lethal diseases.

Khan Chandio, another villager, was hopeful about positive changes in the wake of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited finding a gas reservoir in the Haji Maree village.

District officer (communication and works) Mukhtar Janveri said that the district government had recently completed a five- kilometre-long road from the Quaree village near the Khairthar Range at a cost of Rs4.6 million.

This road, he said, would link Kutchi Pul with Quaree and help ease the hardships of the local population to reach Shahdadkot in case of medical emergencies.

This road would benefit the people living in villages, including Raees Allah Rakhiyo Jat, Raees Allah Rakhiyo Janveri, Faqeer Mohammed Khoso, Ghulam Rasool Janveri, Hakim Khoso, Abdul Ghafoor Khoso and Dadan Khan Chandio.

It was also learnt that the people, forced to drink this highly brackish water, had told the district Nazim that they would migrate from the area if they did not find clean drinking water by the month of May.

Construction of roads and a permanent solution to the problems stemming from the Heerdin Drain water could bring back normal life of the people of the area.

They added that the Nazim had promised to seek the government’s help in resolving their problems.

SCHOOLS CLOSED: All primary schools on Wednesday remained shut to protest against the delay in payment of salaries to over 2,000 primary school teachers in the city and taluka.