HYDERABAD: Activists of the Sindh United Party (SUP) took out a rally and staged a protest sit-in outside Shahbaz Building against an acute shortage of drinking water in Hyderabad and Jamshoro on Monday.

Carrying banners, placards and party’s flags, they shouted slogans against the PPP government which according to them had failed to supply pure drinking water to the residents of Hyderabad and Jamshoro despite making tall claims to give “Roti, Kapra Aur Makan” to the masses.

They staged a big rally from the SUP regional office Qasimabad to Shahbaz Building where they blocked the main road.

SUP senior vice president Dr Dodo Maheri, vice president Roshan Ali Buriro and executive council member Dr Nazar Mohammad Junejo led the protest.

Addressing the protesters, Dr Dodo Maheri slammed the Sindh government, saying that the government had failed to give the basic facilities like pure drinking water to people. He said millions of rupees were earmarked for schemes regarding drinking water supply, but the amount was pocketed as residents of Hyderabad, including Qasimabad, Latifabad and the city, were being deprived of water in the sweltering heat.

Roshan Ali Buriro said SUP activists had been holding protests and sit-ins for two months against water shortage, but in vain.

If the government did not take serious action to ensure proper water supply, activists would not allow members of the provincial and national assemblies to move on roads while corrupt bureaucrats would not be allowed to sit in their luxury offices, he threatened.

He said the PPP had introduced the Town Municipal Administration (TMA) culture in Sindh and looted millions of rupees allocated for pure water schemes.

He said the residents of Hyderabad, Qasimabad, Latifabad, Kotri and Jamshoro were not getting water for the past two months properly and facing problems due to lack of water.

He appealed to people belonging to every walk of life to participate in their movement for pure drinking water so that people could get that basic facility.

Criticising the government, he said there were rising inflation, poor law and order, runaway corruption, deteriorating education system, increasing unemployment and above all acute shortage of drinking water in urban and rural areas of Hyderabad and Jamshoro.

Meanwhile, residents of Junejo Colony Latifabad site area also held a protest sit-in outside Shahbaz Building against shortage of drinking water and blocked the road for hours in the morning.

Leading the protest, Ali Gohar Magsi, Jalal Shah Pathan and Abdul Hameed Chandio said there was no drinking water for the past six months and residents were using bore-well water.

They demanded of the government to ensure water supply immediately, otherwise they would widen the scope of the protest and block the main roads of Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, tail-end growers of Khairpur Gamboh sub-division of Naseer canal continued their protest for the fourth consecutive day on Monday at the offices of the Naseer division superintending engineer of Rohri canal against unavailability of irrigation water in their areas.

The protesters also held a march from the SE’s office to the Hyderabad DIG office, where 46 of them submitted applications for registration of an FIR against the Sukkur barrage left bank chief engineer over water theft.

The protesting farmers hailed from Badin and Mirpurkhas districts and have been staying in SE’s offices since Friday as part of their campaign under the aegis of the Sindh Abadgar Tanzeem. Chief Engineer Junaid Memon, however, said that water supplies were made in the Rabi season when farmers got a bumper crop.

According to him, Rohri canal travels around 270 miles after emanating from Sukkur barrage and then Naseer canal has a run of 70 miles and then their minors run into miles so considerable quantity of water is lost. He said unavailability or shortage of water in Naseer division was a chronic problem.

He claimed that farmers were not allowing irrigation staff to run Pharo canal regulator in Khair Gamboh area. Otherwise everyone could get water.

Published in Dawn, June 17th, 2014