HYDERABAD, May 27: The president, Sindh Abadgar Board, Abdul Majeed Nizamani, has expressed grave concern over the frequent breaches in the Rohri Canal, which is the backbone of Sindh’s agriculture.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, he said it was most unfortunate that such breaches always occurred during the summer season when the temperature is between 45 degrees Centigrade and 50 degrees Centigrade.

Mr Nizamani said that the “wounds of last year’s breaches in Rohri Canal had yet to heal” when another breach has occurred in the canal near Ranipur on May 24-25.

He said when Naushahro Feroze was in grave danger due to the erosion of the embankments of the Rohri Canal, the high officials of the irrigation department had told the Board that the department had no funds.

He said the Sindh Abadgar Board had asked the government to provide funds to the department but it was not with the result that Sindh has again suffered irreparable losses due to the recent breach.

The Sindh Abadgar Board’s president pointed out that due to this breach, full water supply could not be restored upto an area of 250 miles at least for three weeks.

The Sindh Abadgar Board’s president demanded that the government compensate the affected people for their losses in livestock, food grain, household items and standing crops.

Mr Nizamani further demanded that the people affected by the breach should be rehabilitated at government expense and the weak embankments located in low-lying areas should be lined on a war-footing within a year.