HYDERABAD, May 21: The Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) has expressed surprise over the claim of the federal minister for water and power that sufficient water was available in rivers and that riverbanks will be strengthened for fear of floods.

In a statement faxed to Dawn, SAB president Abdul Majeed Nizamani pointed out that according to the 1991 Water Accord, 80,600 cusecs of water had to be made available at Guddu upstream, 40,100 cusecs at Sukkur upstream and 21,700 cusecs of water at Kotri upstream by May 20. But, he said, only 65,000 cusecs of water was available at Guddu upstream, 34,000 cusecs at Sukkur upstream and 11,000 cusecs of water at Kotri upstream.

He regretted that 90,000 cusecs of water was available at Tarbela downstream, 36,000 cusecs at Kabul River downstream, 108,800 cusecs at Kalabagh downstream, 100,000 cusecs at Chashma downstream and 96,000 cusecs of water at Punjnad downstream but Sindh was facing an acute shortage of water. Chashma-Jehlum link canals were flowing full despite they had been declared as flood canals.

He said according to figures given by the provincial government, Sindh had sustained a loss of Rs.44 billion during the last four years due to the shortage of water.

Mr Nizamani said the shortage of water, low prices of crops, non-allotment of plots in the vegetable market, Karachi, high rents of tractors, excessive power bills, inordinate increase in prices of fertilizers and pesticides and the levy of general sales tax had badly affected growers.

He appealed to federal and Sindh governments and legislators to take notice of the predicament of growers.

Meanwhile, in a communication addressed to the Sindh chief minister, the SAB demanded that embankments of the Rohri Canal should be repaired.

The board said embankments of the canal had been eroded as they had not been properly maintained. Breaches had occurred in the canal several times, it pointed out.

It said the weak embankments of the canal near Naushero Feroze posed a danger to the area and the people had to come out on the streets on May 7 in protest.

The communication said the SAB had contacted the irrigation department in this regard but it was told that no funds were available to repair the canal embankments. It said funds available in the Sida’s account should be utilized to repair the embankments.