HYDERABAD, April 5: General council of the Sindh Abadgar Board claimed at its recent meeting in Shikarpur that the province has suffered Rs100 billion loss during the last five years.
It was of the view that such a huge loss was sustained due to water shortage, mismanagement in its distribution, catastrophic rains in 2,003, breaches in canals and drains, including the Left Bank Outfall Drain.
The board president Majeed Nizamani presided over the meeting which adopted several resolutions and urged the Sindh government to take necessary measures to check mismanagement in the distribution of water and ensure water supply to the tail-enders.
The meeting demanded that tampering of watercourses and water theft should be checked. It pointed out that 84 per cent of watercourses had not been lined and urged the government to release first instalment of Rs25 billion to line the watercourses within four years on war footings.
The meeting also called upon the government to provide Rs250 million for 10 laser land levellers in each taluka and to change the doors of the regulators wherever it was found necessary.
It stressed the need for commissioning tube-wells and to ensure power supply to the tube wells. In another resolution, the meeting demanded that in the calamity-affected areas, the growers should be given total exemption in the payment of agricultural taxes.
Expressing concern over the cracks in the Sukkur Barrage, the meeting pointed out that the barrage was life line of Sindh and demanded an impartial technical inquiry into the matter.
It urged the government to take necessary measures for improvement in law and order situation in the province and demanded that the roadside check posts setup by the contractors of the market committees should be abolished and market committee fees be charged only from the dealers in accordance with law.
