HYDERABAD, May 19: Fishery should be given the status of agriculture, water should be released downstream Kotri, forest department should demand separate share of water and interest-free loans should be given to fishermen.

These demands were made by Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Mallah Tanzeem chief Mohammad Arib Mallah at a meeting held at Manjhi House, Hussainabad, here on Monday in memory of the cyclone victims of May 1999.

Speaking on the occasion, he said that the meeting was aimed at reminding the rulers that nothing had been done by the government for the bereaved families of those people who had perished in the cyclone.

He deplored that no financial assistance had been provided to the bereaved families which had lost their bread earners.

He said that the facts and figures notified by the authorities about the loss of life and property in the cyclone were incorrect.

Mr Mallah said that due to non-release of water downstream Kotri, rich agricultural land had been inundated by sea water and added that the resident of Shah Bandar and Keti Bandar had even been deprived of drinking water.

He said that 350,000 fishermen were starving as prawn and Palla fish had become extinct due to the use of banned fishing nets.

Loadshedding: The Muttahida Qaumi Movement has condemned unannounced power loadshedding and issuance of inflated bills to the consumers.

In a joint statement issued here on Monday, Muttahida MNA Professor Khalid Wahab and MPAs Aslam Pervez called upon the HESCO authorities to improve the performance of their organization.