October 01, 2008	Wednesday	Shawwal 1, 1429

DADU, Sept 30: Twelve villages and around 4,000 acres of land under cultivation were inundated by water gushing out of a 160-foot breach which occurred on the Johi Branch canal near Khairpur Nathan Shah on Monday evening.

Six hundred houses of Haji Khan Khoso, Jam Khan Khoso, Bachal Khan Khoso, Mehboob Khoso, Ahmed Chandio and Yousuf Chandio villages collapsed as water flooded these villages. Paddy, cotton and vegetable crops standing on 4,000 acres were also flooded.

The villagers held protest demonstration against irrigation officials for not plugging the breach. A farmer, Waris Khoso, alleged that the breach occurred due to the negligence of the irrigation officials, which ruined his 1,200 acres.

Another villager, Nooruddin Khoso, said that as the breach occurred, he informed the irrigation officials but they did not reach the site.

Pakistan People’s Party MNA Dr Talat Mahessar and MPAs Fiaz Butt and Imran Leghari arrived on the spot and directed the irrigation officials to plug the breach.

The chief engineer of the right bank, Sukkur Barrage, Agha Aijaz Ahmed, suspended Sub-engineer Zulfiqar Soomro and Darogha Ghulam Mustafa Leghari for their negligence.

An irrigation team led by superintendent engineer, western Sindh circle Larkana, Zahid Hussain Junejo, supervised the plugging of the breach. Mr Junejo said that an inquiry would be conducted to ascertain the causes of the breach.

The irrigation staff with the help of the area people plugged the breach on Tuesday evening.—Correspondent