DADU, Dec 4: The shortage of irrigation water has affected cultivation of wheat crop in Dadu, Sehwan, Johi Bhan, Pat and Sita sub-division of the southern irrigation division.

The growers appealed to officials of the irrigation department to provide their share of irrigation water in the Dadu Canal and the Johi Branch.

This correspondent conducted a survey in the six sub-divisions of the southern irrigation division — Dadu, Bhan, Sehwan, Johi, Pat Sharif and Sita — and visited the affected waterways, including Patoro, Pahore, Jeejani, Khan, Dara, Noonari, Lakha, Patoro, Pahore, Jeejani, Khan, Dara, Noonari, Lakha, Sita, Phakka, Khudabad, Pipri, and Jagir.

Most modules/watercourses had been tampered with and armed persons were deployed there, while the tail-end waterways were dried up completely.

Many growers complained that they had not even been able to cultivate 20 per cent of the wheat crops in comparison to the last Rabi season.

They said that the artificial shortage of water had affected wheat crops the most in Dadu, Sehwan, Johi and K. N. Shah Talukas of Dadu district.

A grower, Ghulam Ali Shahani, who is Nazim of Chhinni Union Council and chairman of the Abadgar Board, Dadu district, complained that irrigation officials had not provided them a single drop of water from the zero point to the tail of the Chinni waterway since the last three years.

He said that this Rabi season all the growers who are provided water from this waterway had been unable to cultivate a single acre of wheat crop.

A grower, Nazeer Ahmed, who resides at the tail-end of the Panj Mail waterway said that last year he had cultivated 60 acres of wheat but this year due to an artificial shortage of water he had not been able to cultivate even a single acre of wheat, and added that the wheat cultivation season starts from Nov 1 but none of the growers of the area had been able to cultivate any wheat.

When this correspondent went to the Bhan sub-division at the Daim waterway, a grower, Hafiz Mian Mohammad Pirzado, said that all the waterways originating from the Dadu Canal had dried up completely in Sehwan, hence the small growers there had been unable to cultivate wheat crop.

He said that the growers were being compelled to shift to other places for earning a livelihood.

A grower, Haji Ahmed, who gets water from the Phakak waterway of Dadu sub-division said that the growers were not getting their share of water since the last three years.

On being contacted, the leader of the growers of Johi Taluka, Bashir Ahmed Thaheem, said that the influential growers at the head of the Johi branch had broken all the modules/water courses with the connivance of irrigation officials and were stealing water through the installation of pipes.

He said that irrigation officials were receiving thousands of rupees in bribes from the influential growers every month which was why they did not take any action against them.

He said that the people who lived near the waterways originating from the Johi branch, including Cheejani, Dara, Lakha and Bego Dero, were not receiving any water even for drinking.

He said that the position of Sita, Pat Sharif sub-division, was no different because the landlords were stealing water with the help of irrigation officials.

He said the food department would be unable to get any wheat in Dadu district this season as none had been cultivated.

He appealed to the secretary, Irrigation, Bashir Ahmed Dahar, and the chief engineer, Sukkur Barrage, Ghulam Nabi Mughal, to take strict action against the corrupt irrigation officials and provide justice to the poor growers.

When this correspondent tried to contact the executive engineer, irrigation, Dadu division, on the telephone, he was neither available in his house nor in his office till the filing of this report.

RAIDED: A police party of the Dadu town police station on a tip-off raided a workshop the other day to arrest a gang of robbers.