TOBA TEK SINGH, Sept 7: The Pakistan Kissan Committee proposed on Tuesday that the Punjab government should offer equal water allowance to all the districts across the province if 43 per cent reduction in irrigation water supply was unavoidable during the Rabi season.
At a press conference after the committee's meeting here, PKC central president Chaudhry Fateh Muhammad claimed that the water allowance for the farmers of Toba Tek Singh and Faisalabad was only 2.64 cusecs for 1,000 acres each whereas it was 7.50 cusecs for Dera Ghazi Khan, 5.50 cusecs for Bahawalpur and 3.50 cusecs for Multan. However, he said, abiana (water cess) had been imposed under flat rate across the province.
Chaudhry Fateh also claimed that the farmlands of Toba Tek Singh were being destroyed because of the irrigation water shortage, as its subsoil water was brackish. He said: "The local farmers will not be able to sow crops in the coming Rabi season if water supply to the district is reduced by 43 per cent."
He proposed that the canal water for 11.28 million acres where the subsoil water was suitable for cultivation should be allocated to those areas where the underground water could not be used. For this purpose the government could exempt the farmers of the areas where underground water was usable for the farmlands from the expenses of electricity bills.
