THATTA, June 11: Provincial minister for population welfare, Imtiaz Shaikh, has said that Sindh government is aware of the gravity of water crises in the province and determined to get its legitimate water share as per the 1991 Water Accord.

Speaking at a news conference here at the Thatta press club on Wednesday he said the Sindh government was opposed to construction of more upstream dams and canals.

The minister said the Sindh Assembly had passed a resolution against the construction of greater Thal canal. He said if the work on the project continued, the provincial government would certainly raise the issue with the federal government.

He conceded that water was a matter of life and death for the people of Sindh. The non-release of water downstream Kotri since last about six years had caused irreparable loss to Thatta and Badin’s agricultural sector where 1.2 million acres of fertile lands had been encroached by the sea, he confessed.

Commenting on the population, the minister said, within short span of time, its graph has come down from three per cent to 2.3 per cent. He said his ministry would continue to achieve its target of population reduction upto 1.9 per cent by the year 2004.

He said a growing population was one of the major issues and required special attention. He said due to his efforts the provincial government would allocate a substantial amount to arrest the population explosion.

The minister rejected any differences between provincial and district governments and claimed that both were working in harmony. Any confrontation, the minister observed, would harm the system.

He said provincial and district governments, in coordination with bureaucracy, were playing their role to make the system a grand success. The minister regretted the Keenjhar lake tragedy and directed the department concerned and the Thatta district government to make the place safe for the tourists.

He announced ambulances for Thatta and Jacobabad population welfare centres.