DADU, June 3: Experts, agriculturalists and Nazims, at a seminar held on Tuesday, demanded that the federal government should change the design of the Right Bank Outfall Drain at Bhago Thoro mountains to protect sweet water of the Indus River.

Speaking at the seminar, the president, Sindh Chamber of Agriculture, Dadu, and Nazim of Chhinni union council, Ghulam Ali Shahani, said consultants of the RBOD had not conducted a survey and the work on the drain was started on the basis of a defective report. He complained that the RBOD was being dug near the main flow of the Indus River which would prove disastrous for the river. He deplored that substandard material was being used in the construction.

He warned that river water would be mixed up with saline water of the RBOD and it would be rendered undrinkable. He reminded that residents of Karachi, Kotri, Hyderabad, Jamshoro and other areas used this water.

Syed Hakim Ali Shah, an archaeologist and historian, said thousands of acres of land in the Kutcha area would be rendered barren if the drain was constructed near the main flow of the river. He said an open trial should be held of engineers and officers involved in corruption and using substandard materials in the project.

Grower Ghulam Mustafa Janwari said officers of the RBOD project had demolished hundreds of houses of farmers at the bank of the Indus River. He feared that more houses could be demolished in future. He said the land acquisition officer and RBOD officers were not paying compensation to growers for their lands.