SHEIKHUPURA, Sept 27: Canal water theft is increasing in the district day by day, Dawn has learnt.

Influential landowners are using illegal means to irrigate their lands in connivance with irrigation officials.

Younas Jutt and Nadeem Joyia, small landowners from Chak 9-UCC, said a few big landowners were using canal water more than their share. He said besides using watercourses to irrigate their lands, they had installed plastic pipes in the canal to steal water, but there was no one to stop them.

They said their standing crops of paddy, fodder and sugarcane would suffer if the Irrigation Department did not check water theft. They asked irrigation officials to raid Mangtanwala Sub-Division ‘rajba’ near Chak 9-UCC to capture those who were stealing water allegedly in connivance with the Upper Chenab Canal Division officials, including the executive engineer (XEN) and sub-division officer.

XEN Mahmoodul Hassan Shah showed ignorance about the problem on the pretext that he took the charge of his office “only two months ago” and shifted the blame on his predecessor.