MIRPURKHAS: Dozens of growers protesting against an acute shortage of water in their tail-end areas stormed the East Jamrao regulator and closed it causing flooding in a vast area of Sindhri taluka and destruction of several crops on Monday.

Reports from the area suggested that the growers of the tail-end areas of Sindhri taluka, who had been staging protest for many weeks over unavailability of irrigation water in the Doso distributary, held a routine demonstration at Meera Mori near the East Jamrao regulator at 69-Miles.

Enraged over usual indifferent attitude of the irrigation officials concerned, they stormed the regulator and closed it.

As a result, water started flowing in the blocked distributaries and minors with immense pressure.

Due to abrupt release of excessive water, the Mirpur minor overflowed and spilled its banks. The lands around the minor came under water causing destruction of cotton, chillies and other crops over many acres.

The irrigation officials at Sindhri moved into action and called out the police to escort them to the tempered regulator.

Under police escort, the officials reopened the regulator and employed workers and machinery to flush out water from the affected lands and managed to save the lands in the nearby Kot Ghulam Mohammed areas.

Police guards were deployed around the regulator but no arrests were made till last reports came in late on Monday evening.

HYDERABAD: A large number of growers of Tando Ghulam Haider blocked Hyderabad-Badin Road by staging a sit-in for four hours on Monday against a shortage of irrigation water in their areas.A local PPP leader, Feroze Khan Chang, persuaded the farmers to end their sit-in and assured them that the issue would be taken up with the chief minister.

The protest was organised by the Abadgar Ittehad and led by Nawab Ghulam Qadir Nizamani, Mohammad Rafique Nizamani, Kashif Nizamani, Zulfiqar Leghari, Wahid Bukhsh Leghari, Ali Akbar Chang and others.

A strong contingent of police remained deployed on the sidelines until the protest ended peacefully.

Speaking to protesters, the leaders said that the Jarki distry that emanated from Imam Wah had been facing water shortage for 10 years and this year the growers were even unable to sow the Kharif crops.

The alleged that influential landowners of the area were diverting water to their lands causing a shortage in the Jarki distry. They claimed that the irrigation officials concerned were not taking action against the landlords.

They vowed to launch a ‘long march’ from Tando Ghulam Haider to Karachi and stage a sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly building on the issue.

BADIN: Pangrio police booked six peasants for stealing water from Shadi Small Wah (canal) by tempering with its modules.

Two FIRs against suspects, Atta Mohammed, Mohammed Aslam, Mohammed Anwer, Mitho Rind, Kirshan Kolhi and Mohammed Lukman Unnar, were lodged by the local irrigation officials on Saturday under sections 61 and 62 of the Irrigation Act and 430 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The suspects, however, claimed that the FIRs had been lodged for exposing some corrupt irrigation officials by holding protests against them. They alleged that the officials had been providing water only to those who paid illegal gratification to them.

They said they had been getting no war for the last six months.

They demanded action against unscrupulous officials and the policemen conniving with them.

Meanwhile, an operation against water thieves under the supervision of Tando Bago Assistant Commissioner Mohammad Hussain Lund continued on Monday with raids conducted at several places. Officials said they found 72 broken and tampered modules of Shadi Large Wah, Shadi Small Wah and other water courses.

Growers have been given three days to get the modules repaired or face action.

Farmers, villagers and members of Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum held demonstrations and took out processions in Golarchi, Tando Bago, Pangrio, Budho, Qambrani and other towns of Badin district in protest against acute shortage of water in their areas for the past seven months.

The protesters in Golarchi told journalists that water shortage had completely destroyed lands in the district’s coastal belt and forced people to drink highly contaminated water.

Thousands of villagers in the tail-end areas of canals were facing hunger as they could not cultivate their Kharif crops, they said.

Farmers also protested in Tando Bago, Pangrio, Budho and Qambrani towns against water shortage.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2014