HYDERABAD: Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) Vice Chairman and MPA Mohammad Nawaz Chandio on Tuesday ruled out disbanding of Sida and vowed to activate it for ensuring water availability in the tail-end areas.

He was talking to reporters after presiding over a meeting of Sida in its head office. Sida Managing Director Zahid Junejo and General Manager (transition) Nazir Essani were also present.

Sida officials briefed the MPA about Sida’s working and other jobs that are taken in hand by the authority.

He said the authority would be activated and not be disbanded, adding that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah had called for executing more projects in the areas controlled by Sida. He expressed the hope that soon work on the projects would begin.

He said the Sindh CM, who is also chairman of Sida, in a recent meeting had entrusted him the job to ensure availability of water in Badin and other tail-end areas, calling for activating Sida. He said elections in farmers organisations (FOs) had also been planned.

Then, he said, elections of area water boards (AWBs) completing their terms would be held so that farmers were represented there. Directives were also issued for de-silting of canals and channels, he said, adding that matters relating to Sida had been discussed in today’s meeting.

He said Sida was carrying out de-silting of canals in the area whereas serious importance was attached to revenue collections.

He disclosed that previous bodies of FOs had been dissolved and fresh elections would be held soon. He said Sida was striving hard to provide water to tail-end areas of the canals, considering water shortage in the province and it would soon be overcome.

He informed that open katcheries would also be held in the areas managed by Sida to hear farmers’ problems. He disclosed that an operation would be launched for removal of encroachments along Phulelli canals in Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad and Matli.

Subsequently, he said, rehabilitation work of Phulelli canal would begin under the Water Sector Improvement Project (WISP) and this would end water shortage problem in Badin. He said police would also be taken on board in this regard.

He said the Sindh government believed that Sida and the irrigation department should be run smoothly to allay fears of people.

He told a questioner that water shortage existed in some parts of Badin whereas it had been overcome in other areas. To another question, he said that for providing water to tail-end areas in Badin, a Bilawal Bhutto Zardari canal would be built for which PC-I had been prepared.

He said full attention would be given for improvement in canal systems operated by Sida in its area. He said Sida had been created by Benazir Bhutto to devolve powers at grass root level.

The Sindh CM during Ramazan had admitted that there was serious mismanagement in water distribution and asked Hyderabad police DIG Sanaullah Abbasi to take action against those involved in water theft. Later, several cased were lodged against landowners.

Farmers bodies like Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) and Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA) had been demanding dissolution of Sida and calling for reforms in the irrigation department so that water related issues may be addressed and farmers may get water for crop sowing on time.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2014