KHAIRPUR: Revenue officials along with district administration officers and police destroyed paddy crop grown over 32 acres in the Kot Lalu area near Deh Marri and the Akri Marri area on Sunday amid strong resistance by peasants.

The district administration had recently imposed a ban on cultivation of paddy crop in the taluka to save water for tail-end areas. A campaign has been launched to destroy the crop grown in violation of the ban.Faiz Gunj taluka mukhtiarkar, other revenue officials and administration staff escorted by police sprayed chemicals to destroy the crop in the two areas areas.

At Akri Marri, over 100 peasants, including women, strongly resisted the drive but the officials and police foiled their attempt to save the crop. The peasants told the media that the destruction of their crop would render them penny less and indebted as it was their only livelihood supported by loans.

Defending the campaign, Sukkur Commissioner Mohammad Abbas Baloch said that Faiz Gunj taluka had been facing a crisis of irrigation water and if cultivation of paddy crop was allowed, the crisis in the tail-end areas would deepen.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2014