PESHAWAR, July 27: People of Urmer area staged a protest demonstration against non-availability of irrigation water in tail-areas of the Hazar Khwani canal system here on Tuesday.
The protesters blocked the Pandu Road, connecting Peshawar city with various rural areas, due to which vehicular traffic remain suspended for about two hours. The protesters asked the provincial government to suspend recovery of water tax (abyana) from inhabitants of Urmer Payan and Urmer Miana as their crops were badly affected due to non- provision of water.
The demonstration was led by Mumtaz Khan, nazim of Urmer union council, one of the six rural union councils of Peshawar and Nowshera districts which have been facing irrigation water problems. These councils are provided water through the Kabul River Canal System (KRCS) and Hazar Khwani canal.
The local police tried to convince the protesters to open the road and hold negotiations with the officials of irrigation department. However, the protesters remained adamant, stating that despite their repeated complaints to the higher authorities and elected representatives the department did not pay heed to their problems.
The protesters claimed that they had requested leaders like Qazi Hussain Ahmad, Chief Minister Akram Durrani, provincial irrigation minister Hafiz Akhter Ali and others, but to no avail.
Finally, the demonstrators agreed that some of their representatives would hold talks with the concerned sub- divisional officer and other officials of the department at the office of the SP (Rural).
The protesters dispersed from the road, whereas their leaders held a meeting with the officials. The representatives complained that the canal had not been cleaned and the officials were not fulfilling their duties.
Mumtaz Khan said that the officials told them that they would start cleaning the canal from Wednesday. He added that they were also assured that provision of water would be made available to the tail-end areas. He said that about 5,000 acres of their lands were affected due to this problem.
A few days ago nazims of six union councils had sent a letter to the chief minister and requested him to solve this problem. The nazims of the councils - Azakhel, Dagai, Urmar, Kurvi, Mohib Banda and Akbar Pura - stated that the government had failed completely in providing them irrigation water.
They stated that their crops had been destroyed since last year, which drastically affected their livelihood. The nazims held the MMA government and the irrigation department responsible for their miseries, stating that postings and transfers on political basis had taken place in the department which affected the entire system.
According to these nazims, the Kabul River canal was in chronic shortage in Dagai and Azakhel Bala and several thousands acres of land was destroyed. They added that the Kurvi, Pabbi and Banda Mohib canals (KRC system) dried in tail areas thus affecting more than 10,000 acres of land. Similarly, the Hazar Khani canal is dry in Urmer Miana and Payan affecting more than 5,000 acres of land.
