March 29, 2008	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 20, 1429

RAJANPUR, March 28: Water scarcity has hit hard Pachadh Dhundi State of Rajanpur district, as Dajal Canal, the only water channel in the area, has dried up. As a result, wheat crop on thousands of acres is going to destroy and people are fleeing the area.

The underground water of the area, which has a population of about 150,000 people, is brackish and the locals use canal water for drinking and other purposes, but the authorities concerned stopped releasing water in the canal some two months ago.

Talking about the prevailing situation, local farmers’ representatives Bahadur Khan, Wahid Bakhsh, Ghulam Nabi and Jamil Ahmad said officials in charge of the canal were responsible for the situation, which could be destructive for the poor farmers.

They demanded that the officials concerned immediately release water in the canal. They also asked those elected from the area to help ease the situation and threatened protests if their problem was not solved. —Correspondent